Saudi Aramco (AKA the Saudi Arabian Oil Company) is in the process of developing mobile carbon capture technology. This would allow for CO2 emissions to be captured right from the tailpipes of vehicles - especially large trucks. As one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, and also one the most valuable (with a market value of somewhere around $2 trillion), Aramco’s vast resources could be a significant part of the global CCUS research and development budget.
Saudi Arabia is particularly interested in carbon capture since the technology could potentially extend the life of fossil fuels. The country has already invested in several projects that capture and utilize CO2. CCUS technologies would enable Saudi Arabia to lower its massive carbon footprint and still produce oil.
The Middle Eastern country is one the the largest emitters of CO2 globally and their economy relies mostly on exporting oil to the world. In the short-term, this won’t change fast enough to effectively fight climate change. This is why CCUS is so important. As Jason Bordoff of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University says in the article, “It’s just reality that we can’t come close to meeting our climate goals without technology that’s going to store CO2. Clean energy isn’t going to happen fast enough.”