Saudi Aramco targets net-zero emissions by 2050

Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco announced on October 23 it would strive to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2050, ten years earlier than Saudi Arabia aims to achieve this goal.

"As the largest provider of energy to the world, Aramco’s ambition to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our operations in less than three decades is a historic step forward that will help tackle the most pressing challenge facing humanity," Aramco CEO Amin Nasser commented. "The road ahead will be complex, as the world’s transition to a more sustainable energy future will require collective action and major technological breakthroughs."

Aramco said it would disclose more details about its climate ambitions in its upcoming sustainability report, due to be published in the second quarter of next year.

Addressing a climate conference in Riyadh on October 24, Saudi energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said blue hydrogen would play a major role in Saudi Arabia's energy transition. A large portion of gas from the $110bn Jafurah project will be used to produce blue hydrogen, he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. Aramco received approval to develop Jafurah in February.

"We are the biggest adventurers when it comes to blue hydrogen,” Abdulaziz said. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is on hydrogen. We have a terrific gas base in Jafurah we will use it to generate blue hydrogen.”