- Chevron plans to build a carbon capture plant in California together with Schlumberger New Energy, Microsoft and Clean Energy Systems
- The company pushes investment in clean energy in anticipation of tighter control for traditional emissions plants
- Companies involved in the project aim to deploy carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) solutions at scale
Chevron announced plans to collaborate with Schlumberger, Microsoft and Clean Energy Systems to build a bioenergy facility with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS). It will be located in Mendota, California with the goal of producing carbon-negative power. The project is a response to California’s Air Resources Control Board’s decision to phase out agricultural waste burning by 2025.
“We look forward to leveraging our experience working in California, building projects which can be repeated, and operating large-scale CCS operations. The project is aligned with our focus on investments in low-carbon technology to enable commercial solutions.” said Bruce Niemeyer, Chevron’s vice president of strategy and sustainability.
Chevron Finds Partners
Microsoft is deemed to bring aboard its experience in cloud technologies as it could help accelerate the industry’s digital transformation. All the companies involved expect to begin engineering and design right away with the investment decision coming in 2022. Then, they will evaluate other opportunities to scale this carbon capture and sequestration solution.
The plant is designed to convert agricultural waste biomass like almond trees, into renewable synthesis gas. The gas will then be mixed with oxygen in a combustor to produce electricity.
The whole process is carbon negative. That is because the CO2 released during combustion and stored underground is being consumed by the biomass during its lifetime.
The BECCS plant is expected to use ~200,000 tons of agricultural waste annually and remove about 300,000 tons of CO2. That is equivalent to the emissions from the electricity use of more than 65,000 U.S. homes.
Scalability in CCS projects has been a challenge for many companies. But Chevron is determined to build a project that can be repeated to support the development of lower-emissions energy technologies.
