Ok so let’s just set some baseline understanding here since I know climate change is new to some of you. Currently, the leading cause of climate change, is an excess of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (ghgs) in our atmosphere. Basically, when we emit a lot of carbon and ghgs, they stay in our atmosphere for a long time…and don’t even say I’m here for a good time not a long time, because carbon and ghgs are here for a VERY LONG TIME. Anyway, these carbon and ghg molecules cause the sun’s rays to re-reflect back to Earth instead of escaping, which causes unnatural heating aka “global warming”. Now, it’s not natural for so much of the sun’s rays to be re-reflected back to Earth, which is why the Earth reacts in different ways, like how we’ve gradually experienced more extreme weather over time, because, you guessed it, the climate is changing.
Great, now lets talk about this $1.2 Billion Dollar Punchline-
As with any great standup routine, the punchline comes after some background, a roast, rebuttal, and laughter at our own expense, and our story is no different!
If you happen to remember the details of Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill, congratulations because I can’t even remember the SparkNotes. Well the bill had earmarked approximately $3.5 billion for something called “direct air capture or carbon capture technology”, which is essentially a giant vacuum cleaner for our atmosphere. Direct Air Capture (DAC) utilizes massive fans to pull air from the atmosphere where it then undergoes a series of filters and engineered chemical reactions to separate the carbon dioxide, which is then (usually) stored underground.
Think of it like the final boss after you’ve bought every Dyson and Shark vacuum that TikTok convinces you of, and you succumb to it because you’re “a grown up and love cleaning now”…. OKAY, relax.
Here’s the Background:
Last week we got news that the DOE (Department of Energy) is awarding up to $1.2 billion for two Direct Air Capture/Carbon Capture hubs in Texas and Louisiana. This investment is said to be the world’s largest investment in engineered carbon removal in history so far, and will likely create over 5,000 jobs which is a huge win for the transition to more sustainable jobs and our future. This is all not to mention that the two hubs are expected to remove over 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually, that’s the equivalent to removing about half a million cars off the roads!
Anddd the Roast:
The ability to remove over 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually is amazing!! But wait lets do a little calculation here..
So current US emissions are around 5,600 million metric tons of CO2e annually… and the cost and impact of this project is around $1.2B for 2 hubs that will sequester a total of 2 million metric tons of CO2e annually. So that means this project will mitigate appx. 0.036% of annual US emissions… for $1.2B USD… Is it time to laugh at our own expense yet?
Not yet, in fact that wasn’t even the punchline.
These DAC hub projects are being carried through by certain companies in each area, the one in Texas being 1PointFive, a subsidiary of the oil giant Occidental Petroleum aka Oxy. Although the name “occidental petroleum” feels a little too close to “accidental petroleum” for my liking, I’ll do you one better.
Occidental announced last year that it plans to use the direct air capture vacuums to develop “net-zero oil”, a little bit of an “OXY-moron” ironically! But how does that work? Well the carbon dioxide that the DACs suck from the atmosphere can be compressed and pumped underground to help push new oil up to the surface, a process called “enhanced oil recovery”. Now, before you too lose your mind at the absurdity of using pollution-reducing technology to create more pollution, administration officials have said the particular projects they are funding will not be used for this process…but we’ll see how that pans out.
The Rebuttal:
Ok so lets tackle the 0.036% first. I know its not a lot, but truthfully this investment is extremely important to catalyze more efforts towards carbon capture and driving down the cost for carbon removal initiatives below $100 per metric ton, which the DOE says is their main intent here. This investment also positions the US as a leader in emissions mitigation via DAC, and I can’t think of anything more American than being #1..in emissions mitigation via DAC! All in all though, the projects will be largely influential, and there are already at least 11 carbon capture projects vying for the remaining funding all across the country which brings about some hope.
As for our good friends at Oxy, I understand that business needs need to be met in order to smoothly transition away from petroleum and oil, however I don’t believe the climate-concerned public would be too keen on more “big money” going into more “big oil”. As the economics for renewable energy and carbon capture start to become more favorable, it may be time for many oil & petroleum companies to double down on a rebrand and focus on driving innovation in clean energy, or utilizing their sprawling infrastructure and resources for the good of our future.
Or, at the very least, stay away from being a $1.2 billion dollar punchline.
Sources: Axios, The Washington Post, Fortune
