next-generation energy

June 3, 2008

New technologies — and the scientists and engineers who develop them — are essential to our energy future.

If you met someone who had a Ph.D. in computer science, would you be surprised to learn that they worked for an oil and gas company?

You shouldn’t be. Providing the energy for the world’s 6.6 billion people requires an astonishing level of technology and innovation.

Many still don’t think of the energy industry as “high-tech.” Unlike a laptop or a cell phone, a gallon of gasoline doesn’t look particularly innovative. Yet that single product embodies a myriad of sophisticated technologies that go into finding, producing, refining and delivering every gallon of fuel we use.

In fact, ExxonMobil employs more than 14,000 scientists and engineers, over 1,000 of them with Ph.D.s. Their expertise is not only in geology, chemistry and physics, but also oceanography, paleontology, microbiology, computer science, environmental science and medical science.

Backed by our industry-leading investments in research and development (more than $1 billion in R&D and technology applications annually), these men and women are developing amazing new technologies for finding and delivering energy, as well as innovations that will allow us to use energy more efficiently. For example:

• An exploration technology called R3M, which uses electromagnetic “listening” devices to detect undersea oil and gas deposits with minimum impact to the environment;
• A lithium-ion battery breakthrough that greatly improves the safety, power and reliability of larger batteries for hybrid vehicles, thereby helping promote their use to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions;
• Advanced vehicle and fuel technologies that will improve the fuel-economy — and reduce the emissions — of today’s automobiles.

By 2030, global energy demand will be about 30 percent higher than it is today, even with substantial efficiency gains. Like today, oil and natural gas will be called upon to meet approximately 60 percent of the world’s energy requirements. Emerging technologies will help us meet the world's growing energy needs of oil and natural gas, while also reducing the impact on our environment. And they can provide solutions to address the risks posed by rising greenhouse-gas emissions.

Over the next few weeks, we will use this space to discuss these emerging technologies in greater detail.

We’ll also introduce you to some of the people behind these innovations — the scientists and researchers whose ideas are the lifeblood of the energy industry, and whose innovations are essential to our energy future. It is the current generation of energy professionals that is developing the next generation of energy.