據(jù)美國(guó)彭博新聞社2022年8月13日?qǐng)?bào)道， 沙特阿拉伯國(guó)家石油公司（沙特阿美）計(jì)劃從2026年開始在同類設(shè)施中最大的設(shè)施之一永久儲(chǔ)存二氧化碳，這家沙特國(guó)有石油巨頭尋求在2050年前實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零排放的目標(biāo)。

沙特阿美正在尋求捕獲在把天然氣轉(zhuǎn)化為氫氣等工業(yè)活動(dòng)過(guò)程中排放的二氧化碳，并將污染物永久地儲(chǔ)存在地下深處的一個(gè)曾生產(chǎn)過(guò)石油和天然氣的儲(chǔ)油層中。

沙特阿美化學(xué)品副總裁奧利維爾·托雷爾在接受彭博新聞社記者采訪時(shí)說(shuō)，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目一期工程位于沙特阿拉伯東海岸的工業(yè)城市朱拜勒附近，每年將能夠儲(chǔ)存500萬(wàn)至900萬(wàn)噸二氧化碳。這相當(dāng)于100萬(wàn)到200萬(wàn)輛汽油驅(qū)動(dòng)的乘用車一年的碳排放量。

這個(gè)項(xiàng)目是沙特阿美旨在成為氫氣生產(chǎn)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者這一更大愿景的一部分。氫氣被視為全球能源轉(zhuǎn)型的關(guān)鍵，因?yàn)樗谌紵龝r(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)零排放。然而，它需要大量的碳捕獲和碳儲(chǔ)存設(shè)施，以一種真正對(duì)地球友好的方式做到這一點(diǎn)。把天然氣轉(zhuǎn)化為氫氣的過(guò)程會(huì)產(chǎn)生二氧化碳，但這些二氧化碳會(huì)被捕獲，從而產(chǎn)生所謂的藍(lán)色氫氣。這些氫氣可以用來(lái)制造藍(lán)色氨氣——一種比氫氣更容易運(yùn)輸?shù)幕衔铩Ｋ{(lán)色氨氣稍后可以被重新轉(zhuǎn)化為氫氣。

托雷爾說(shuō)，沙特阿美想要表明：“在從井到閥門的整個(gè)生命周期中，我們的氨氣出口到各個(gè)市場(chǎng)的碳強(qiáng)度是最低的之一，無(wú)論是用于化工、化肥還是能源用途。”

他說(shuō)：“我認(rèn)為這是一種讓我們適當(dāng)?shù)貫槲覀円砸环N全面的方式管理二氧化碳所做的投資獲得信用的方法，但這不是最終目標(biāo)。”“最終的目標(biāo)是投資專門的碳封存設(shè)施。”

李峻 編譯自 美國(guó)彭博新聞社

原文如下：

Saudi Aramco Betting Big On Carbon Storage

Saudi Aramco plans to begin permanently storing carbon dioxide from 2026 in one of the largest facilities of its kind, as the state oil giant seeks to reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The company is looking to capture carbon dioxide emitted by processes that convert natural gas into hydrogen, among other industrial activities, and permanently store the pollutant deep underground in a reservoir that previously produced oil and gas.

The first phase of the project near the industrial city of Jubail, on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, will be able to store between 5 million and 9 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, Aramco’s vice president of chemicals, Olivier Thorel, said in an interview. This is equivalent to the emissions from about 1 to 2 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven over a year.

The project is part of Aramco’s larger vision to become a leader in producing hydrogen, a gas seen as key to the global energy transition since it produces zero emissions when burned. Yet, it will need massive carbon capture and carbon storage facilities to do this in a truly planet friendly way. The process of converting natural gas to hydrogen emits carbon dioxide, but these emissions can be trapped — resulting in what’s known as blue hydrogen. This hydrogen can be used to make blue ammonia — a compound that’s much easier to ship than hydrogen. The blue ammonia can later be converted back into hydrogen.

Aramco wants to show that “on a life cycle ‘well to gate’ basis we have one of the lowest carbon-intensity ammonia available for export to the various markets — whether it’s for chemical, fertilizer, or energy purposes,” said Thorel.

“I think it’s a way for us to properly get credit for the investment we’ve made to manage CO2 in a well-integrated way — but that’s not the end game,” he said. “The end game is to invest in a dedicated facility for carbon sequestration.”