Saudi Aramco touts mobile carbon capture, cultivates sustainability research

The Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co., or SATORP, is a joint venture with Franceâs Total. Recently two Saudi Aramco projects were named in Hydrocarbon Processing magazineâs "Top HPI Projects of 2014." less The Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co., or SATORP, is a joint venture with Franceâs Total. Recently two Saudi Aramco projects were named in Hydrocarbon Processing magazineâs "Top HPI ... more Photo: copyright©2013 Saudi Aramco, All rights reserved Photo: copyright©2013 Saudi Aramco, All rights reserved Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Saudi Aramco touts mobile carbon capture, cultivates sustainability research 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, wants to develop technologies that can collect carbon emissions from heavy-duty trucks, store that CO2 at refueling stations – and use it to harvest more oil.

Saudi officials hope the so-called mobile carbon capture systems will trap around half of the carbon dioxide pouring out of 16-ton Class 8 trucks, which will also use more efficient compression ignition gasoline engines instead of higher-emitting diesel engines.

This first-of-its-kind advance in carbon capture – trapping CO2 before it can escape into the atmosphere – is one of several sustainability projects in the Saudi oil company has launched since 2011. It's an effort to reduce the Kingdom's carbon footprint and ensure its biggest business – producing one out of every eight of the world's oil barrels – is still sustainable in a carbon-constrained world.

"That's good business practice, not just good environmental practice," Saudi Aramco Chief Technology Officer Ahmad Al Khowaiter said in a recent meeting with reporters in Houston. "Being a lower-emissions producer also means you're a low-cost (energy) producer."

Related: Supporters of fossil fuels, environment allied in Congress to support carbon capture's future

These days, Saudi Aramco spends about a quarter of its R&D budget on what it calls its business sustainability domain. It has invested in technology that converts carbon dioxide into polymers, built a gas treatment plant that collects as much carbon as 70,000 cars produce in a year, and is exploring further advances to reduce carbon capture costs.

Related: Lower energy prices cloud carbon capture's future