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HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil under increasing pressure He announced on Tuesday that he has the “ambition” to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions from his operations by 2050.

The oil company, the largest in the United States, still lags behind many of its major competitors in public climate commitments.

Exxon said it has identified 150 changes to its exploration and manufacturing practices to help it meet its goals, including electrification of operations with energy from renewable sources. Initial steps will include eliminating the flare-up and venting of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, a byproduct of drilling.

“We have an opinion,” Darren Woods, Exxon’s CEO, said in an interview. “By the end of this year, 90 percent of our assets will have roadmaps to reduce emissions and realize this net zero future.”

Exxon’s targets include Scope 1 emissions directly produced by the company and Scope 2 emissions from power generation that Exxon purchases, such as electricity supplied by utilities.

However, the new policies also do not cover Scope 3 emissions from the combustion of fuels by drivers and other customers, as well as by other companies in Exxon’s supply chain. The overwhelming majority of company-related emissions are Scope 3 and are the most difficult to control or compensate.

European companies have begun to adopt Scope 3 commitments, which will require enormous efforts, including reforestation, capturing and removing carbon from operations, and technological advances such as fuels made from recycled carbon. Most of the companies are selling their hydrocarbon businesses and diverting resources to renewable energy such as solar and wind power.

Shell, the largest oil company in Europe, Set 2050 goal for net zero emissions, which includes Scope 3, which it says accounts for more than 90 percent of its emissions. Norwegian national oil company Equinor has a similar goal to BP, although it excludes joint operations with a Russian company, Rosneft.

By targeting “net zero,” companies will eliminate more carbon than they emit into the air.

The only American company committed to eliminating Scope 3 emissions is Occidental Petroleum, one of Exxon’s main competitors in Texas’ Permian Basin, where it plans to be. absorb carbon in the air and bury it in the ground. Chevron, the second largest oil company in the USA, announced in October In a move similar to Exxon’s announcement on Tuesday, it’s “aspiration” of zero net emissions from its operations by 2050.

Environmentalists insist that Exxon and other oil companies must adopt Scope 3 targets.

“Given the biggest impact of oil and gas on the sale and use of the product, it is necessary but not sufficient to fully address Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions,” said Mark Brownstein, senior vice president of energy at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Being a provider of energy solutions means you are considering the energy content of the products you supply, as well as the carbon footprint.”

Mr Woods said his company is making efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions by working on carbon capture and separation and advanced low-carbon fuels for aviation and other heavy transport.

“There are opportunities as we continue to advance carbon capture,” he said. “There will be opportunities to commercialize this technology and help others reduce their emissions.”

Pressure on Exxon has increased since activist investors secured three of the 12 seats on the board He suffered a stunning defeat for management in June. Mr Woods said the board members are now “united” and that “You can’t tell the difference between the new and the old.”

Exxon launched a Low Carbon Solutions business last year to accelerate the development of carbon capture and storage, hydrogen projects, and biofuels. Houston hopes to make a carbon capture and storage project in the ship canal a global model, but a carbon tax or other price on carbon will be required to make it profitable.

Its Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil, plans to produce renewable diesel to reduce emissions from heavy transport. This month, Exxon acquired about 50 percent of Biojet, a Norwegian biofuels company that plans to convert wood and wood construction waste into low-carbon biofuels.

Exxon has also set international targets. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian state oil company Pertamina to evaluate potential large-scale carbon capture and storage projects in Indonesia.

The company said it plans to invest $15 billion over the next six years to reduce emissions. Most of this money will go towards carbon capture and storage, hydrogen energy and biofuel development. The executive summary of their plan said “robust government policies” such as some form of carbon pricing are important to “create market incentives” such as those that support electric cars and renewable energy.

“We’re working closely with policymakers to help them see what kind of constructive policies can be implemented,” said Mr Woods, to push for carbon capture and other Exxon climate efforts.

But such efforts have so far failed to satisfy most of the investment community. Last month, UBS Asset Management announced that it is selling its stake in Exxon as part of its divestment from oil and gas companies it believes is lagging behind in climate change policy.

Mark van Baal, an activist Dutch investor who has been promoting the environmental action of European companies for years, announced that the investor group will urge Exxon to set emissions targets that not only address its operations but also the emissions of its customers.

Exxon’s position on emissions has improved over the past year. in March, Mr Woods promised He added that his company “supports” zero-emissions targets and will try to set a target to not emit more greenhouse gases than is emitted from the atmosphere, but it is difficult to say when that will happen.

Last month, the company announced it would aim to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its operations in West Texas and New Mexico oil and gas fields by 2030. It has committed to electrifying its operations and improving its ability to detect and capture methane. Eliminates routine combustion of waste gas emitted from gas and oil wells.