Oil
company records from 1960s reveal patents to reduce CO2 emissions in
cars
ExxonMobil
and others pursued research into technologies, yet blocked government
efforts to fight climate change for more than 50 years, findings show
20
May, 2015
The
forerunners of ExxonMobil patented technologies for electric cars and
low emissions vehicles as early as 1963 – even as the oil industry
lobby tried to squash government funding for such research, according
to a trove of newly discovered records.
Patent
records reveal oil companies actively pursued research into
technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate
change from the 1960s – including early versions of the batteries
now deployed to power electric cars such as the Tesla.
Scientists
for the companies patented technologies to strip carbon dioxide out
of exhaust pipes, and improve engine efficiency, as well as fuel
cells. They also conducted research into countering the rise in
carbon dioxide emissions – including manipulating the weather.
Esso,
one of the precursors of ExxonMobil, obtained at least three fuel
cell patents in the 1960s and another for a low-polluting vehicle in
1970, according to the records. Other oil companies such as Phillips
and Shell also patented technologies for more efficient uses of fuel.
However,
the American Petroleum Institute, the main oil lobby, opposed
government funding of research into electric cars and low emissions
vehicles, telling Congress in 1967: “We take exception to the basic
assumption that clean air can be achieved only by finding an
alternative to the internal combustion engine.”
And
ExxonMobil funded a disinformation campaigned aimed at discrediting
scientists and blocking government efforts to fight climate change
for more than 50 years, before publicly disavowing climate denial in
2008.
The
patent records were among a new trove of documents published on
Thursday by the Center for International Environmental Law, and
deepen the legal and public relations challenge for Exxon.
“What
we saw was an array of patent technologies that demonstrated that
these companies had the technologies they needed and could have
commercialised to help address the problem of C02 pollution,” said
Carroll Muffett, president of the Ciel. “They then turned to
Congress and said you don’t need to invest in electrical vehicle
research because the research is ongoing and it’s robust.”
The
findings echo those in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?,
which explored the deliberate destruction of GM’s first electric
vehicles.
Alan
Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman, insisted he could not comment directly
on the documents as he was unable to access the Center for
International Environmental law website on which they were published
on Thursday morning.
In
an emailed statement, Jeffers said: “The Guardian gave us only a
few hours to comment on documents from four decades ago.”
Jeffers
went on: “This further illustrates the Guardian’s
well-established bias on climate change issues which has been
demonstrated previously through its keep it in the ground campaign.”
He
said the company believed the risks of climate change were real, was
researching lower emission technologies, and engaged in “constructive
dialogue” with policy makers about energy and climate change.
Researchers
discovered more than 20 such patents filed by oil companies from as
early as the 1940s for technologies that could help in the
development of electric cars.
However,
Ron Dunlop, president of Sun Oil and API chairman, told a joint
hearing of the commerce committee in 1967 that government funding of
research into electric cars would be misplaced – because the oil
companies were so advanced in their research of cleaner cars. “We
in the petroleum industry are convinced that by the time a practical
electric car can be mass produced and marketed, it will not enjoy any
meaningful advantage from an air pollution standpoint,” he told
Congress. “Emissions from internal-combustion engines will have
long since been controlled.”
Muffett
said the findings were the result of three years of research and were
not exhaustive.
“The
question is what did they do to try to commercialise these
technologies, knowing what they did about climate change,” he went
on.
The
revelations, the second set of documents released by Muffett’s
organisation, reinforce charges by campaigners that Exxon was well
aware that the burning of fossil fuels was a main driver of climate
change – despite its public posture of doubt.
In
addition to the technologies with potential for electric cars, Exxon
and other oil companies were actively researching methods to cut
emissions of carbon dioxide – the main greenhouse gas.
In
another historic document that surfaced last month, a Canadian
subsidiary of Exxon admitted the company had the technology to cut
carbon emissions in half. However, the corporate memo dating from
1977 said it would be prohibitively expensive – doubling the cost
of electricity generation, according to the documents obtained by
Desmog blog.
New
York and 17 other attorneys general, including DC and the US Virgin
Islands, are investigating whether the oil company lied to investors
and the public about the threat of climate change.
Campaigners
plan to further turn up the heat on the company next week when Exxon
holds its annual shareholder meeting in Dallas.
Campaigners
have argued for more than a decade that Exxon bankrolled a network of
front groups and conservative think tanks aimed at discrediting
well-established science – confusing the public and delaying
governments efforts to cut the greenhouse gas emissions responsible
for warming.
Those
efforts to put Exxon on the spot gathered pace after Inside Climate
News and the Los Angeles Times reported that the company’s own
scientists knew as early as the 1970s that greenhouse gases caused
climate change.
The
attorney general of the US Virgin Islands has subpoenaed Exxon to
turn over email, documents and statements over the last decades.
Exxon
has dismissed the investigations as politically motivated.
However,
the company has reversed its opposition to fuel cell technology.
Earlier this month, the company announced it had been conducting a
joint research effort on fuel cell power plants with FuelCell.
The
initiative, which got underway in 2011, aims to route the carbon
dioxide from fossil fuel burning power plants into fuel cells,
producing low emissions electricity. The company has estimated it can
cut 90% of carbon dioxide emissions.
“At
ExxonMobil, we share the view that the risks of climate change are
serious and warrant thoughtful action,” Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s
chief executive, told the US Energy Association after receiving its
annual award.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.