The Ones and Zeros of Carbon Capture
Authors: Wright Blake 
Published: November 2024

Leading services companies and specialty software firms alike have launched various tools and digital suites to assist carbon capture and storage (CCS) project operators with everything from ideal siting of facilities and pipelines to the efficient operations and around-the-clock monitoring of those facilities.

CCS holds the promise of big business if industry can efficiently and economically operate at scale the slate of planned facilities. Oil and gas companies have been making investments in the space with aims to become leaders in a segment—ironic since the petroleum business is also one of the emitters of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Last month, supermajor ExxonMobil executed the largest offshore CO2 storage lease in the US with the Texas General Land Office. The 271,000-plus-acre site complements the onshore CO2 storage portfolio ExxonMobil is developing and further solidifies the US Gulf Coast as a CCS leader, according to the operator.

In an October 2024 report, the US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a draft strategy for carbon management technologies through 2030, stating that carbon capture and direct air capture are “essential” to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The report says CCS projects will grow dramatically over the next decade and beyond, adding that 18 CCS facilities are operating now in the US.

DOE’s near-term CCS strategy through 2030 incorporates focusing research, development, demonstration, and deployment funding on priority use cases; building out CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure where it likely will be needed most in the future; supporting the implementation of effective and evidence-driven policies and regulations related to carbon management at other federal agencies; engaging communities and workers to ensure projects deliver benefits and mitigate potential risks to public health and the environment; and supporting climate diplomacy efforts to accelerate the adoption of carbon management at scale globally in a way that aligns with the Paris Agreement.

“DOE is funding a variety of technologies to assist in decarbonization in the industrial and power sectors,” the report explained. “These approaches include carbon management as well as electrification, fuel switching, materials substitution, efficiency, and other emissions-reductions measures. In parallel, DOE is working to envision and develop transformative emissions reductions approaches that will create new options in the long term.”

The US government has been an active participant in making funding available for the advancement of CCS technologies. In 2024 alone, almost $3.5 billion was made available between two separate programs—CCS large-scale pilot projects ($937 million) and CCS demonstration projects ($2.5 billion)—as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In June 2023, ceremonial shovels were plunged into the dirt in Ector County, Texas, to mark the start of construction for the largest direct air capture facility in the world, designed to capture 500,000 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. Occidental subsidiary OnePointFive’s $1-billion Stratos project is located on a 65-acre site made up of a network of air contactors, pellet reactors, a centrifuge, and a calciner—all known components that operate in other industries.