Zero CO2 emissions by 2050 is possible, says Shell executive

The advancement of global warming and the growing pressure from investors and other civil society groups for more sustainable practices have taken several companies in the oil and gas industry to accelerate investments in support of the energy transition in the last years. 

According to data from the consulting company McKinsey, the oil and gas sector is currently the source responsible for around 9% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the world, in addition to producing fuels responsible for over 33% of global emissions.

Because of this, a consortium of 12 major oil companies world was formed at the beginning of the last decade with the commitment to reduce emissions by up to 52 million tons per year in 2025.

Due to this commitment and the work carried out by these multinationals, Ajay Mehta, the vice president of engineering at Shell, stated that the task of Zeroing greenhouse gas emissions is a possible goal to be achieved by 2050.

The executive was one of the participants in the RCGI annual conference (Research Center for Innovation in Greenhouse Gases), in São Paulo, held last Tuesday (25). 

“We were not the only company to announce a goal of zero emissions by then. Several have declared similar intentions to achieve this ambitious purpose. This will require technological innovation and a lot of determination. I think industry, universities and governments will have to come together to make this happen, Mehta said.

In order to meet the objective, the executive said that the oil company works with goals to be met: first reduce the company's emissions by half by 2030 and then the rest by 2050. “We have less than 30 years to eliminate all these emissions”, he highlighted.

He says that to achieve this, the company decided to end the burning of gas during operations, reduce methane leaks and make a shift in the company's portfolio towards natural gas.

“In the past, we produced around 70% oil and 30% natural gas; By the end of the decade we will probably see between 55% and 60% of our global portfolio made up of gas,” said Mehta, highlighting that the company predicts a decline in oil production of 1% to 2% per year.

Shell's bet on renewables

Mehta also said, during the event, that Shell is also working to achieve carbon neutrality through incentives for renewables. The idea is to multiply by eight by 2030 the amount of low-carbon fuels produced by the company, such as hydrogen, in addition to generating clean sources, such as solar energy. 

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The capture and storage of carbon dioxide is also one of the blocks planned by the company, aiming to store 25 million tons annually by 2035. “The reforestation of large areas is also one of the options”, concluded the executive. 

Shell's strategy of zero carbon emissions by 2050 is part of the goal of the Paris Agreement, signed between 193 countries in December 2015, in the quest to limit the increase in the average global temperature to 1,5^oC above pre-industrial levels.