据美国彭博新闻社2022年8月13日报道， 沙特阿拉伯国家石油公司（沙特阿美）计划从2026年开始在同类设施中最大的设施之一永久储存二氧化碳，这家沙特国有石油巨头寻求在2050年前实现净零排放的目标。

沙特阿美正在寻求捕获在把天然气转化为氢气等工业活动过程中排放的二氧化碳，并将污染物永久地储存在地下深处的一个曾生产过石油和天然气的储油层中。

沙特阿美化学品副总裁奥利维尔·托雷尔在接受彭博新闻社记者采访时说，这个项目一期工程位于沙特阿拉伯东海岸的工业城市朱拜勒附近，每年将能够储存500万至900万吨二氧化碳。这相当于100万到200万辆汽油驱动的乘用车一年的碳排放量。

这个项目是沙特阿美旨在成为氢气生产领导者这一更大愿景的一部分。氢气被视为全球能源转型的关键，因为它在燃烧时实现零排放。然而，它需要大量的碳捕获和碳储存设施，以一种真正对地球友好的方式做到这一点。把天然气转化为氢气的过程会产生二氧化碳，但这些二氧化碳会被捕获，从而产生所谓的蓝色氢气。这些氢气可以用来制造蓝色氨气——一种比氢气更容易运输的化合物。蓝色氨气稍后可以被重新转化为氢气。

托雷尔说，沙特阿美想要表明：“在从井到阀门的整个生命周期中，我们的氨气出口到各个市场的碳强度是最低的之一，无论是用于化工、化肥还是能源用途。”

他说：“我认为这是一种让我们适当地为我们以一种全面的方式管理二氧化碳所做的投资获得信用的方法，但这不是最终目标。”“最终的目标是投资专门的碳封存设施。”

李峻 编译自 美国彭博新闻社

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.”