Oil and gas companies BP and Linde announced plans for a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) project along the Texas Gulf Coast that will enable:
Clean hydrogen production and
Storage for CO2 captured from those and other industrial facilities.
The project will produce low-carbon hydrogen for the greater Houston area, transmitted along Linde’s hydrogen pipeline network.
What’s clear:The Gulf Coast is a promising location for CCS projects because of the high concentration of industrial sources, offshore storage capabilities, and momentum for offshore storage is building.
2. Duke Energy doubles down on hydrogen and advanced nuclear
In light of a North Carolina law requiring electric public utilities to become carbon neutral by 2050, Duke Energy announced plans to meet its commitments through advanced nuclear and hydrogen projects.
According to the law, the company must commit to a comprehensive emissions reduction plan by the end of the year. Duke plans to retire its NC coal-fired plants and instead focus on:
Grid efficiency improvements;
Energy storage;
Natural gas power plants that are able to transition to 100% hydrogen; and
Advanced nuclear reactors.
What’s clear: Both clean hydrogen and advanced nuclear are technologies that America needs in its clean energy sector in order to maintain energy independence and leadership.
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) remains one of the most promising clean energy technologies — it was identified in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report as a crucial technology in global emissions reduction efforts.
Several American companies are coming through with innovative CCUS projects, including:
Charm Industrial’s solution involving turning agricultural waste into bio-oil and sequestering it underground in Class I and Class V wells.
What’s clear: Though these three projects all utilize the same infrastructure as other CCUS projects, newer technologies are often left out of tax incentive structures like the 45Q credit. Investment in innovation is key to lowering the cost of developing and deploying these technologies.
Plug in: CCUS Program Manager Jena Lococo and Policy Analysts Savita Bowman and Grant Cummings dive into these three innovative technologies in their new blog post.
4. Chevron to deploy CCS at California natural gas power plant
The initiative will begin at Kern River Eastridge natural gas plant in Kern County.
The company plans to install post-combustion capture equipment at the facility and sequester it underground.
Chevron has applied for a Conditional Use Permit from the Natural Resources and Planning Department of Kern County to begin the project while working on evaluation and demonstration.
What’s clear: Natural gas is an affordable, reliable power source for the region. Capturing the emitted CO2 from the facility will ensure reliability while also meeting emission reduction goals.
Plug in: The success of CCS projects hinges on their ability to get permitted — the American permitting process needs to be modernized to get these projects off the ground.
