ExxonMobil Studies CCS for Fife Ethylene Plant
ExxonMobil has signed an Expression of Interest for the carbon capture and storage (CCS) of CO2 emissions from its Fife ethylene plant in Scotland. The move sees the US energy and petrochemicals giant increase its participation in the proposed Acorn CCS project, which could potentially store more than 20 million t/y of CO2 by the mid-2030s.
The agreement to include the ethylene plant, located in Mossmorran, is in addition to the capture and storage of emissions from gas terminals at the St Fergus complex in Peterhead, which includes ExxonMobil’s joint venture facility with Shell.
“The application of carbon capture and storage technology at the Fife Ethylene Plant demonstrates our commitment to reducing CO2 emissions from the industrial sector,” said Joe Blommaert, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. “With the right government policies in place and industry collaboration, the carbon capture and storage opportunities we are evaluating, such as in Scotland, have the potential to move forward with current technologies for large-scale, game-changing emissions reductions.”
The company is also evaluating several other CCS projects worldwide, including at Rotterdam in the Netherlands, in France’s Normandy and at US locations in LaBarge, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas.
ExxonMobil said it has an equity share of roughly one-fifth in global CO2 capture capacity and has trapped approximately 40% of all the captured anthropogenic CO2 in the world.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
