Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other major international oil companies are seeking technology breakthroughs to make gasoline and diesel from renewable sources as they shun fuel from food crops.
Companies are researching ways of making fuels from waste products and nonedible plants to supplement traditional oil supply.
“We are looking at the next generation of biofuels, and our program in that area is very active,” Exxon chief executive Rex Tillerson said this week at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Spain.
Companies and governments are seeking to use power and fuel more efficiently and create energy from sources such as the sun or wind to reduce global warming caused by combustion fuels.
They must also balance production of fuel from plants with the need to leave edible crops, farmland and water for food production.
Investment in the technology remains a fraction of spending on traditional crude and natural-gas reserves as companies seek fuels that will be economically viable.
Exxon has invested as much as $1 billion a year in research and development in the past decade and will continue doing so, Tillerson said.
That compares with average companywide spending of about $25 billion a year on exploration, refining and other activities.
Royal Dutch Shell is spending $1.2 billion a year to develop energy sources that aren’t reliant on hydrocarbons such as crude or natural gas. That compares with total investment of $28 billion to $29 billion in traditional exploration, production and refining activities.
BP will invest $1.5 billion this year in renewable-energy technologies, such as biofuels and wind power, as much as it has invested since 2005, chief executive Tony Hayward said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting April 17.
“Second-generation biofuels are the playground of Shell,” Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Oswald Clint said. “They’ve made the most headway in that area and should be focused on having a commercially viable product between 2010 and 2015.”
