Heading for hydrogen and a lower-carbon future

• A global low-emissions future will rely on technology and energy innovations on a huge scale, and Aramco is well positioned to play an important role in a decarbonizing world
• Reducing carbon emissions is an important step, but not enough — carbon must be removed, and what is captured needs to become a valuable resource in its own right 
• Hydrogen is also gaining significant traction as a viable lower-carbon fuel for long-haul transport and as a ‘zero-emission at point of use’ energy source that can impact high-emitting industries

 

It is one of the greatest challenges of our time — the need to balance the increasing demand for affordable and reliable energy with the need to reduce global carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas, natural resources that have enabled global growth and prosperity for over a century, are in the spotlight within this debate. However, hydrocarbons will have a key role in the energy mix for some time yet, so what could the solution be, and how can we transition towards environmental sustainability in the oil and gas industry?

Repurposing CO2 and harnessing hydrogen’s potential

What’s required is a future where the hydrocarbon value chain is reimagined. One where the circular carbon economy is used as a framework for not only managing and reducing emissions, but also removing carbon from the atmosphere (Direct Air Capture) and turning it into a valuable resource, more so than it already is in a limited range of commercial applications. 

Our innovative practices already help Aramco maintain our position as one of the lowest upstream carbon intensity producers in our industry. We are also rolling out  — at industrial scale — technologies such as Carbon Capture, and Storage (CCS), capturing carbon at source to be used for important products, or to support enhanced oil recovery in our fields. 

And we are working on developing Saudi Arabia’s hydrogen infrastructure, supporting the country’s ambition to become the largest hydrogen producer in the world. Hydrogen is a potential game-changer in the energy transition; reliable, efficient, and emitting no greenhouse gases when burned — although, as a product primarily derived from natural gas, not without its own carbon footprint. However, our current focus is on manufacturing blue hydrogen, a production method in which the carbon emissions are captured and sequestered for storage, or for utilization in a number of useful processes, or transformed into new products. This method of decarbonizing industrial processes, such as hydrogen production, is called Carbon Capture or CCUS, and we are looking at scaling-up the technology and commoditizing this resource on a global scale.

As the market now moves from concept to reality — some $570 billion is set to be invested in hydrogen production by 2030 — we are leveraging our technology and innovation leadership, to establish the infrastructure needed to scale up blue hydrogen. For example, we commissioned a $12 billion facility to produce hydrogen, steam, and electricity at our Jazan refinery, while a significant amount of the gas in the Jafurah non-associated unconventional gas field, due to come online in 2025, will be used to produce hydrogen.

A world first — making and exporting blue hydrogen

As game changing as hydrogen promises to be, there are still challenges to its widescale adoption. For one, hydrogen is tricky to transport, particularly over long distances. A highly-flammable gas, hydrogen needs to be cooled to -253°C to enable its transportation in a liquid state, and this temperature needs to be maintained throughout transit, which requires the use of expensive cryogenic (highly-insulated) tanks. Ammonia, however — made up of three parts hydrogen to one-part nitrogen — is easier and safer to transport, being less flammable and benefiting from an existing production and supply infrastructure.

In 2020, Aramco and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, in partnership with SABIC, successfully shipped 40 tons of high-grade blue ammonia to Japan, where it was used to produce zero-carbon electricity. This ‘world-first’ project was an important demonstration of the full blue ammonia value chain — from converting hydrocarbons to hydrogen and then to ammonia, all the way through to the capture and use of the associated CO2 emissions. Fifty tons of CO2 were captured and either injected into oil wells to enhance production, or used to make methanol.

Then, in 2022, we partnered with SABIC AGRI-Nutrients to ship 25,000 tons of blue ammonia to South Korea, marking the world’s first commercial shipment of its kind.

As one of our next steps, we’re further exploring ways to transport, utilize, and certify blue hydrogen and ammonia, and dedicating more resources to studying back-cracking — the process of converting this blue ammonia back into hydrogen. This represents promising progress toward the creation of large-scale production facilities for hydrogen and ammonia in Saudi Arabia, which would also include widescale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). 

Re-forging the hydrocarbon value chain

For the past nine decades, Aramco has innovated and adapted to evolving market conditions and technologies, all while following a clear vision — to invest in the future, while providing safe, affordable, and reliable energy to the world.

We are expanding our focus toward emerging sectors — not only in hydrogen, and carbon capture technologies, but also in nonmetallics, artificial intelligence, and renewables, for example — which are key components in the move to a decarbonized world and a more-sustainable future.