Southeast Texas leaders learn about carbon capture at Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce’s annual summit
Researchers and engineers talked about why Southeast Texas is the prime place to capture emissions and store carbon dioxide.
(12 News Now) BEAUMONT, Texas ? Carbon capture technology could future-proof the Southeast Texas economy for generations to come. That’s the message researchers, engineers and advocates shared with hundreds of industry leaders Wednesday.
The Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce hosted the 3rd Annual Carbon Capture Summit at the Bob Bowers Civic Center. The summit was also sponsored by the Houston Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Alliance de Bayou Bend CCS.
Researchers and engineers talked about why Southeast Texas is the prime place to capture emissions and store carbon dioxide.
“It’s really a three-legged stool. You need the industry. You need the capability to capture the carbon. You need the infrastructure to be able to transport it, and then you need to be able to store it where you’re transplanting it. This region has all three of those, and the opportunity to grow and develop more,” Scott Castleman from the Houston CCS Alliance said.
Carbon capture has three components. Equipment captures pollution from petrochemical plants, then the concentrated CO2 will be pressurized and put in a pipeline before it’s injected thousands of feet under ground for storage.
Castleman believes there’s great opportunity for the Texas Gulf Coast.
“We’re seeing these projects over the last few months and years start to be announced. There’s going to be more and there’s a real opportunity for this region along the gulf coast to be a global leader,” Castleman said.
Chevron is leading the Bayou Bend carbon capture and storage project that’s planned for Jefferson and Chambers counties. 12News took an in-depth look at the plans earlier this year.
This project is a joint venture between which includes Talos Energy, Inc. de Equinor. The companies want to capture harmful emissions and inject them thousands of feet underground for safe storage.
Bayou Bend has secured 100,000 acres onshore and 40,000 more offshore for the project.
Geologists say the porous rock formations are perfect for storing the CO2.
Before Bayou Bend, or any other carbon capture project can begin construction, the Environmental Protection Agency needs to give the Texas Railroad Commission authority to grant permits for “Class VI Primacy.” This would cover in the injection wells. The EPA is expected to consider that process in early 2024.
If everything goes according to plan, the offshore component could be up and running in 2026 and the inland section could follow in 2027.
