The world is left with no option but to go green with businesses, says RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani at the Qatar Economic Forum on Monday. Asia’s richest man is ready to chase the ambitious goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2035 as he plans to transform each of the conglomerate’s units into a sustainable business model.
Recycling carbon dioxide, building clean and affordable energy with hydrogen, wind, solar, fuel cells and batteries, and creating valuable plastic are some areas of focus as the country’s largest private-sector enterprise lays out a 15-year vision to transform itself into a new energy company.
Having the largest single-site refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, with a capacity to process 1.24 million barrels of crude per day, the company is already converting its CO2 emissions at Jamnagar into nutraceuticals, high-value proteins, and advanced materials and fuels.
It is working on evaluating novel catalytic and electrochemical transformations to use CO2 as a valuable feedstock and intend to develop next-generation carbon capture and storage technologies. The company is looking to replace transportation fuels with clean electricity and hydrogen as RIL has proprietary technology to convert transportation fuels into valuable petrochemical and material building blocks. It bought its first cargo of carbon-neutral crude oil in February and welcomed more such partnerships. Crude oil suppliers have offset the greenhouse gas emissions involved in the extraction, processing and shipping of such cargoes.
As investors become more socially conscious, energy giants around the world are coming under pressure to improve their environmental policies and move towards a low-carbon future.
Written by: Tazeen Ansari