The Extraordinary ReMaking of Ordinary Things, Part 2: Delta CleanTech Aims for CO2 Capture in Service of Oil & Gas

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today, in part 2 of our series The Extraordinary remaking of Ordinary Things, let’s begin with a bit of news overlooked by the major news outlets last week, that Alberta-based Delta CleanTech acquired the CO2 capture and solvent reclaiming division and operating assets of HTC Extraction Systems and has focused its mission on CO2 capture and management, primarily serving fossil energy companies. The company raised $7.5M to expand its commercial capacity.

Another driver. The Globe and Mail reported on March 7, 2021 that the Alberta government intends to seek $30 billion in federal funding via spending or tax incentives over the next decade for large scale industrial carbon capture projects.

(T)here are two major strands of innovation and one of them is direct air capture of CO2 from the atmosphere, generally funded through advanced R&D funds operated by governments and committed private investors; then, there’s CO2 capture from oil & gas operations, funded by oilcos eager to continue business operation and meet their statutory obligations on emissions. The arrival of government R&D funding on such a massive scale is a game-changer.

What’s at stake? Well, not much except the future of oil & gas, the Hydrogen Economy, the Climate, the continuation of boom times in the Western Canadian economy, and a Revolution in everyday materials. The last of which we’ll spend some time on later in this review.

First of all, let’s do some basic science and math, and look at how we produce CO2 when we make hydrogen from natural gas (primarily, methane). The stream reformation method goes like this (CH4 + H2O —> CO + 3 H2), and CO becomes CO2 this way (2CO + O2 —> 2CO2).

What happens if we capture all that CO2 and sequester it permanently in materials? Bottom line, making hydrogen from methane would be more carbon-friendly than using electrolysis to split water (with standard sources of power). Now, that’s interesting to oil & gas — and to fans of fossil sourcing everywhere.

In Reversa’s curing process, CO2 contained within dilute flue gas streams (with no requirement for capture or purification) is permanently sequestered into the concrete. Together, these innovations enable concrete manufacturers to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of their products in a manner that increases profitability.

Bottom line? While we are skeptical about the long-term prospects of CO2 injection into oil wells, since ultimately the economy is supposed to be turning away from petroleum exploration, injection into everyday materials such as concrete offers a market that is large and stable. We might think of better sources of CO2 than oil & gas operations — for example, cement production itself, or ethanol plants — but no one is more motivated or better capitalized than oil & gas operations. And, not just for hydrogen production. After all, when we combust natural gas for power we also produce CO2, and a lot of it.

Bottom line, we need big applications. Limestone is one, it’s about 15 percent carbon and sixty percent oxygen, overall you can make limestone with roughly 44 percent of the content representing CO2. Blue Planet is working on a synthetic limestone technology. Otters are working on methanol or ethanol from CO2, and those are big markets, too. We need a lot of big apps, not a lot of small apps and not one or two big apps. We’ll be watching the extraordinary remaking or everyday things to see how we capture CO2 and then convert it to useful materials. DCT has taken a nice step in that direction. More on them, here. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: EXXON’S CCS BID:Exxon Mobil believes a $100 billion carbon-capture project in Texas is the key to realizing Biden’s climate agenda, and the oil and gas giant is looking to the federal government to help move it along. The proposed project along the Houston Ship Channel could capture 50 million tons of carbon dioxide every year by 2030 from refineries and plants there — the equivalent to removing nearly 11 million cars from the road.

Unlike their European counterparts, Exxon and other American oil and gas producers aren't looking to move beyond fossil fuels in the near future, and they are looking to carbon capture as a route to continue operating in a carbon-limited environment. And the technology has its allies in both parties, with legislation under consideration to incentivize a scaling up in CCUS. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico: Exxon and other oil producers are embracing carbon capture as a technology that will enable their oil and gas businesses to continue to operate in a carbon-constrained environment.

Exxon, unlike European rivals like Shell and BP, has not vowed to transition away from fossil fuels, arguing that oil and gas will remain key to the global economy for decades as building blocks for plastics and to drive global expansion of electricity. Instead, the company plans to devote its attention to capturing and storing the carbon emitted from oil and gas — and capitalizing on the massive new business opportunity.

Exxon used the tax credit to claim $240 million through 2015, according to Oil Change International, an environmental group tracking the number via public disclosures.

But absent new direct financial incentives, a price of $100 per ton of carbon would be necessary to make large-scale carbon capture business profitable, Woods said.

Biden has so far avoided proposing a price on carbon, either through a cap-and-trade system or an economy-wide carbon tax, and instead called for setting a “clean energy standard” under his infrastructure plan to speed the growth of carbon-free energy sources like renewables and nuclear power — and carbon capture technology. READ MORE