Saudi Aramco showcases clean tech

Saudi Aramco showcased a range of sustainability initiatives — including clean energy technology and carbon management solutions — at the state-of-the-art Saudi Pavilion in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2017.

“Our presence here is to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s aspiration in tackling climate change and meeting its sustainable goals. Our goal is to present a suite of technologies and initiatives that are market relevant and acceptable energy solutions, which helps to address Kingdom and global challenges and aspirations for a cleaner future,” said Ahmad O. Al Khowaiter, chief technology officer for Saudi Aramco.

Supporting the Kingdom

Saudi Aramco’s presence at the event was in line with the Kingdom’s energy transformation agenda, which will see us working with relevant stakeholders in driving forward a solid and sustainable energy framework to meet the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement, which was ratified by Saudi Arabia last year prior to COP 22.

The event also provided Saudi Aramco a platform to outline initiatives in both technology and innovation, aligned with the Kingdom’s aspiration for a cleaner energy future. Saudi Aramco’s technology roadmap broadly supports Saudi Vision 2030, and more specifically, the ongoing energy transformation in the Kingdom.

Technology and efficiency

Al Khowaiter also participated in a panel session titled “The Role of Technology and Innovation in Enabling the Energy Sector Transformation,” which was within the work stream “Focus on Saudi Arabia: How Economic Transformation Will Fast-track Investment in Renewables.”

During the session, Al Khowaiter explained in great detail about the company’s pivotal role in improving energy efficiency in the industry.

“Efficiency is clearly the key to achieve sustainable energy solutions. We at Saudi Aramco view sustainability as a strategic research area to produce cleaner energy technology,” he said. “We are also committed to explore the vast potentials of renewables such as wind and solar. It will take time as we find the right economics, but we are surely getting there.”

Al Khowaiter said that ultimately, the goal is to close the carbon cycle by using all available resources whether hydrocarbon-based or alternatives.

“We see CO2 as a future feedstock for the world; plants convert CO2 from the atmosphere to sustain life as we know it, and our emphasis should be on closing the carbon cycle through innovative solutions,” he said.

Al Khowaiter said Saudi Aramco is playing a significant role for the Kingdom by investing in scalable solutions, turning emissions into value-added products, and leveraging its long standing expertise in minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier in the week, Saudi Aramco announced a renewable energy milestone with the commissioning of the Kingdom’s first wind turbine in Turaif. The project, developed in partnership with GE, marked a turning point in the Kingdom's plan towards realizing the 9.5 gigawatt national renewable energy target defined in Saudi Vision 2030.

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