The Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Center for Energy Studies has issued a new report that estimates the regional and national economic implications of a planned carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) industrial hub.
The report is prepared for Gulf Coast Sequestration – a Louisiana-based company that wants to build the largest carbon sequestration hub in North America located in Southwest Louisiana between the Sabine River and Lake Charles.
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The report concludes that the carbon capture hub would lead to a number of benefits including large earnings for the workers, thousands of jobs throughout the country during construction, and abate climate change damages which translates to billions of savings.
The carbon capture and sequestration hub the company is planning, known as the Gulf Coast Sequestration’s Carbon Capture and Sequestration Project is targeting to assist the decarbonization of large industrial facilities in the area looking to reduce their lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions to preserve the economic competitiveness of the region.
The analysis is prepared in partnership with GCS, and is authored by David Dismukes – professor emeritus at LSU Center for Energy Studies, Greg Upton – interim executive director at LSU Center for Energy Studies, Ron Minsk – an energy and environmental policy consultant who served as a special assistant to President Obama for Energy and Environment and as a special assistant to President Clinton for Economic Policy, and Brian Snyder – associate professor at LSU Department of Environmental Sciences.
The report listed the following economic benefits for the GCS hub:
- It has the potential to abate climate damages by $11.3 billion over its lifetime (utilizing EPA’s social cost of CO2) by sequestering a total of 300 million tons of CO2.
- The estimated contribution of the project is of $698 million in earnings for the US workers during the anticipated five-year construction period, with approximately $560 million of this occurring in Louisiana and Texas.
- It can support more than 1,149 jobs nationally during construction, with more than 970 of these jobs in Louisiana and Texas.
- It can support approximately 375 jobs nationally once the project is completed, paying $21 million in earnings annually.
- It can assist the decarbonization of – and thus protection of – an industry that employs approximately 150,000 workers directly in Texas and Louisiana alone.
The report explains that the benefits of decarbonization are at least two-fold. First, decarbonizing makes current jobs in these sectors potentially more resilient in a lower-carbon future. Second, reduced carbon intensity is increasingly becoming an important factor as companies are considering siting in the Gulf Coast or other regions.
The report also says that successful decarbonization can “create a competitive advantage for the region, which can continue to export products such as liquid fuels, chemicals, fertilizers, and plastics globally. These products do not currently have viable substitutes.”
Currently, Gulf Coast Sequestration has submitted two applications for Class VI Underground Injection Control permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It plans to move towards construction once the permits are received.
“At GCS, we are committed to thorough research, including conducting hundreds of models and simulation exercises to examine how our project will impact our environment and our community… This report is another aspect of that research… The GCS hub represents a forward-looking opportunity to help to grow and sustain American industry and jobs, while also ensuring environmental protection now and in the future,” explained Gray Stream, CEO of Gulf Coast Sequestration.
