ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company (ExxonMobil), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have established the ExxonMobil- NTU-A*STAR Corporate Lab to develop solutions that would help lower carbon emissions, contribute to resource efficiency, and help build a more sustainable future.
The Corporate Lab was officially launched today by Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF). Corporate labs allow companies to draw on Singapore’s strong foundation of scientific capabilities to address real-world challenges. The partnership between industry and academia helps to strengthen the industry relevance of researchers’ R&D and enables innovative enterprises to stay globally competitive through gaining insights into new application possibilities.
Researchers in the S$60 million Corporate Lab will apply their expertise to advance global research efforts in lower-emissions technologies in five areas (details in Annex):
- Convert biomass into lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emission fuels for adoption in aviation, maritime and chemical sectors that are potentially more cost-effective and efficient;
- Carbon capture and utilisation using by-product industrial brines, such as desalination brine to produce alternative construction materials, turning industrial side streams into useful materials;
- Turn methane into low-carbon hydrogen and solid carbon materials: Develop new process technologies to produce hydrogen from natural gas, while identifying potential and new applications for carbon;
- Develop efficient carbon capture and carbonation technology for industry by-products: to produce solid carbonates for use in building and infrastructure applications;
- Large-scale application of carbon in concrete: Produce and validate concrete with carbon materials for large-scale deployment to enable, durable, and sustainable building and construction applications.
The new Corporate Lab - the latest addition to over 20 corporate laboratories across Singapore – is hosted by NTU’s Energy Research Institute @NTU (ERI@N) and A*STAR’s Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE2), through the Industry Alignment Fund-Industry Collaboration Project (IAF-ICP) initiative and will work on joint research programmes over the next five years. These will be focused on helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resource efficiency.
The IAF-ICP initiative is a grant scheme under Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025)1 plan to increase the base of enterprises engaging in research and innovation activities in Singapore. It aims to foster industry-relevant public sector R&D efforts, and advances collaboration between public sector researchers with industry, with a line of sight to potential economic outcomes.
Working to meet Singapore’s and society’s growing needs for stable supplies of energy and essential products while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions in support of a lower-emission future, will require unprecedented innovation and collaboration at scale.
The research programmes identified by the Corporate Lab can contribute to Singapore’s energy security, unlock new socio-economic potential, and help support its progress towards a net-zero future.
