This article will discuss carbon capture in the United States and investigate the ambitions, strategy, and challenges behind the deployment of carbon capture technology. It will also delve into the key players in the market and the key projects of interest. Carbon capture is a way to reduce carbon emissions by capturing carbon dioxide emanating from industrial processes and storing it deep underground. This technology is crucial in America’s quest to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
Ambition & Strategy
Jennifer Granholm, the Department of Energy Secretary, announced a $ 251 million investment plan as part of President Biden's investing in America agenda to support 12 projects across the United States to support carbon capture and storage facilities.
Nine projects under carbon storage validation and testing project for a total funding of $242 million to build new and expanded large-scale commercial carbon storage projects to store 50 or more million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Three projects for funding of $9 million to perform engineering design studies for regional carbon pipeline networks. In addition, the five-year $2.25 billion funding project to build carbon storage facilities was re-opened under a broad scope.
Challenges
Indeed, the high cost stands as one of the most substantial challenges associated with carbon capture and storage. The cost of the equipment and energy needed for such projects is vast. Pipelines are expensive to build with compressing carbon, and maintaining the correct temperature throughout the pipeline would require enormous
financial resources.
Obtaining permits for building infrastructure for carbon capture and storage is a lengthy process, posing a notable impediment in the short term. Furthermore, investment challenges arise concerning the construction and operation of these pipelines, especially in the absence of immediate customers.
Major Players:
- LanzaTech, headquartered in Illinois, focuses on carbon recycling through the gas fermentation process permitting it to use different gas streams to make products.
- Carbon-free, headquartered in Texas, provides carbon capture utilization and storage solutions through SkyCycle, which captures carbon from industrial plants and uses it to create low-carbon materials.
- Global Thermostat, headquartered in Colorado, provides carbon capture solutions through a patented process called carbon dioxide removal assembly.
- NRG Energy, headquartered in Texas, offers energy solutions to businesses engaged in carbon capture to reduce emissions.
- Bloom Energy, headquartered in California, offers an energy platform providing multiple pathways for zero-carbon solutions such as carbon capture, biogas, and hydrogen fuel cells.
Key Projects
Carbon Storage Validation and Testing Projects:
- Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub along the Texas Gulf Coast have the potential to store more than 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
- BP Corporation North America is building two commercial large-scale carbon storage facilities to store 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
- Colorado School of Mines is building two carbon storage facilities to reduce emissions from cement, hydrogen, and power plants in Colorado’s Pueblo region.
- Magnolia Sequestration Hub is to have a carbon storage capacity of 300 million tonnes in Allen Parish, Louisiana.
- Southern States Energy Board is building carbon storage sites to address emissions from electricity generation and steel manufacturing near Bucks, Alabama.
- Southern States Energy Board is building carbon storage sites to address emissions from electricity generation and steel manufacturing near Bucks, Alabama.
- Timberlands Sequestration is developing a biomass carbon removal and storage project for the Alabama River Cellulose pulp and paper mill in Monroe County, Alabama.
- The University of Illinois is building a carbon storage facility to reduce carbon emissions by 50 million tonnes.
- University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center to address emissions from electricity generation and ethanol production and plans to reduce carbon emissions by 200 million tonnes through a storage hub in North Dakota.
- The University of Wyoming is building carbon capture and storage facilities to reduce emissions from trona mining and capture carbon from the air in the Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming.
Carbon Dioxide Transport Engineering and Design Projects:
- Carbon Solutions is performing a study to build a state-wide pipeline system capable of transporting 120 million tonnes of carbon per year through the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor initiative.
- Howard Midstream Energy Partners is performing a study to build a system capable of transporting 250 million tonnes of carbon per year to store carbon from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Mississippi River.
- Southern States Energy Board is performing a study to build a system capable of transporting 8 million tonnes of carbon per year in the Houston- Galveston region along the Texas Gulf coast.
Conclusion
The article delves into America's ambition and strategy to advance carbon capture and storage while highlighting the key hurdles that need to be addressed for the sector to thrive in the future. Finally, I have mentioned the projects launched across the United States and the companies developing them.
End Notes:
- https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-invests-251-million-expand-infrastructure-support-co2
- https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/carbon-capture-and-storage-101/
- https://www.oilandgasiq.com/decarbonization/articles/3-key-challenges-for-the-deployment-of-ccus
- https://carbonherald.com/top-10-carbon-capture-companies/
- https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/direct-air-capture-stocks/
