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'We've seen the destruction': Carbon capture technology worries many in the US

2022-04-16T19:36:37.643Z


Critics of carbon capture and storage argue that these methods, which are supposed to be more environmentally friendly, have been less effective than alternatives such as solar and wind power in decarbonizing the energy sector.


By Drew Costley Associated Press

Polly Glover found out her son had asthma when he was 9 months old.

Now 26, the young man carries an inhaler in his pocket wherever he goes in Prairieville, Louisiana, part of the Ascension district.

"She's probably going to have to leave Ascension," Glover says, but she hasn't "because this is her home and it's our family and our community."

The district is part of the 85-mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge officially called the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, and commonly referred to as "cancer alley."

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The air quality in that region is among the worst in the United States, and in several sectors of that corridor, the risks of cancer are much higher than the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA for its acronym in English). .

Glover, who is an environmental activist, says the air where she lives is "terrible," but there is also great biodiversity — ospreys, eagles, migratory birds, deer, rabbits, fish and crocodiles — among the lakes, rivers and swamps of the region.

The activist has been working for 30 years to preserve the place she has loved since she was a child.

That's why he's wary of anything that could worsen air quality or threaten wildlife, and his biggest fear is that a $4.5 billion plant designed to capture carbon and generate power from hydrogen will do more damage to the lake basin. Maurepas.

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The hydrogen plant is to be built and operated by Air Products and Chemicals, a multinational petrochemical company.

The company says the plant will capture carbon emissions generated during production and store them underground.

"Sometimes I think people think you're creating like a bubble at the bottom of the lake," said Simon Moore, vice president of investor relations, business relations and sustainability for Air Products.

"It's a mile below the Earth's surface, where the geological formation of the rocks has a pore space that just absorbs CO2."

However, Glover is worried.

"I'm not a scientist. I'm a concerned mother," she said.

"We have to be better stewards of the environment, and while reducing carbon emissions is necessary, injecting it into the basin is not the solution."

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There are other carbon capture and storage projects underway in Louisiana, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, California and other states.

The companies say they can successfully remove carbon from the air to reduce pollution, transport it safely and store it underground.

In some cases, oil and gas companies are betting that technology will help build new revenue streams such as plants to produce hydrogen, or extend the life of their fossil fuel facilities.

The projects are gaining steam since Congress approved $3.5 billion for them last year.

The Global CCS Institute, a think tank dedicated to promoting such initiatives globally, says it was "the largest funding allocation for CCS (carbon capture and storage) in the history of the technology."

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In the latest report from the UN Panel on Climate Change, leading scientists from around the world said carbon capture and storage technology needs to be part of a vast array of solutions to decarbonize and mitigate climate change.

But they said

solar and wind power and electricity storage are improving

at a faster rate than carbon capture and storage.

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Critics of carbon capture and storage say the technology is unproven and has been less effective than alternatives such as solar and wind power in decarbonizing the energy sector.

"Carbon sequestration is neither practicable nor feasible," said Basav Sen, director of climate justice policy for the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based progressive think tank.

"It's an excuse for the fossil fuel industry to continue operating in the same way."

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A study released in late 2020 by researchers at the University of California, San Diego concluded that more than 80% of 39 projects that have tried to commercialize carbon capture and storage failed.

The research cited a lack of technology readiness as a central factor.

But even if the technology were successfully applied, several critics say the projects would pose threats to public health in towns already plagued by air and water pollution.

First, they say that any project that prolongs the life of an existing industrial facility represents additional environmental damage by extending the time that it pollutes the community, something that the UN panel report confirms.

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Second, they point out that since

carbon capture would require more energy to power the equipment,

that would end up creating more air pollution because the technology can only capture a portion of the carbon emitted by a facility.

Howard Herzog, a research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a pioneer of carbon capture and storage technology, refuted that in an interview with The Associated Press.

But he acknowledged that there is a risk in transporting and storing carbon.

In 2020, a pipeline carrying carbon dioxide ruptured in the Mississippi town of Satartia, forcing more than 40 people to receive hospital treatment and more than 300 residents having to evacuate their homes.

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The incident is cited by experts, activists and residents living near proposed carbon capture and storage projects to illustrate the dangers of transporting carbon over long distances.

Injecting carbon underground for storage

could contaminate aquifers,

according to Nikki Reisch, director of the climate and energy program for the Center for International Environmental Law.

More than 500 environmental organizations, including the Center, signed an open letter published in The Washington Post in July 2021 calling carbon capture and storage a "false solution."

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In response, the Carbon Capture Coalition, which campaigns for the technology, released its own letter in August with more than 100 signatures.

They lobbied Congress to include investments in the technology in any future legislation.

Matt Fry, a state and regional policy manager for the Great Plains Institute, a Minneapolis-based climate and energy think tank, told the AP that technology is essential to meeting mid-century climate goals.

"The potential for a completely decarbonized and electrified world is a reality," Fry said.

"But we're going to need a transition to get there. And that's going to require carbon capture to deal with emissions."

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Herzog says that at the point of capture, the technology poses a "very low" threat to public health.

"There is always the possibility of some failures," he added, "but on the general scale of chemical plants, [the technology] is very benign."

But residents who live near the proposed projects are concerned.

In California's Central Valley agricultural region, Chevron, Microsoft and Schlumberger New Energy are collaborating to build a facility in the town of Mendota that will generate power by converting agricultural waste into carbon monoxide gas and hydrogen to mix with oxygen to generate electricity, with the promise of capturing 99% of the carbon in the process.

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We are very concerned.

What does it mean in terms of risk of contamination of drinking water?

Nayamin Martinez

Chevron says the plan is to inject the carbon "under the ground in deep geological formations."

That worries Nayamin Martinez, who lives in the Valley and is the director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network.

"That worries us a lot. What does it mean in terms of risk of contamination of drinking water?" she said.

Chevron spokesman Creighton Welch says the process they plan to use is safe.

"CO2 capture, injection and storage are not new technologies and have been managed safely for decades," Welch said.

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In Louisiana, Glover and other residents also fear carbon-capture technology will affect the water.

The carbon dioxide captured by the Air Products and Chemicals facility will be stored under Lake Maurepas, an important aquifer.

Kim Coates, who lives on the northeastern side of the lake, said the lake is a barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and residents.

But he adds that

he has seen the destruction of that ecosystem by industrial development for generations

and, more recently, by hurricanes and tropical storms.

Now, Coates fears more of the same if the carbon is stored under the lake.

"We have seen the destruction over time without anyone considering what was going to happen in the future," he said.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-04-16

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