H2 fueled energy plant, carbon capture project in Bakersfield's backyard

Lots of people have wondered how industry will be able to comply with new rules and regulations that mandate enormous reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Any process that burns fossil fuels - coal, oil, even natural gas - generates CO2 as a byproduct. What to do with that CO2 is one of the bigger problems to be solved in addressing climate change.

One company is hoping to demonstrate just what can be done. Hydrogen Energy California LLC (HECA), a joint venture of BP and Rio Tinto, has been steadily making its way through the permitting process for a new facility that may prove to be an example of what can be done elsewhere in the world. The project will not only produce clean burning hydrogen gas (H2) and use it to generate electricity, but also capture 90% of the CO2 generated in the H2 production process. The project will generate near zero carbon, low emission electricity and will be one of the cleanest power plants in the world.

The new plant will be located west of Bakersfield near I-5 and Stockdale Highway. It will use petroleum coke, coal, and non-potable water to produce hydrogen gas and CO2. The H2 will be burned in a combined cycle power plant to generate 250 MW of electricity. The produced CO2 will be treated to capture 90% of it. The captured CO2 will then be sent via pipeline to the Elk Hills Oilfield located nearby, where it will be injected deep underground and used for enhanced oil production by Occidental Petroleum, the operator of Elk Hills. The resultant EOR process will result in more domestic oil production, possibly lowering the demand for foreign crude.

The sources of petroleum coke feedstock (about 2300 tons/day) will be refineries that generate it as a waste product in their crude oil refining process. Currently, this waste is shipped overseas where it is burned, often times without controls, to fuel various processes in other countries. By showing that this polluting waste product can be used to make H2, a clean burning gas whose primary emission when burned is water vapor, and that the CO2 produced can be captured and disposed underground, the project will go a long way toward demonstrating a feasible and economic way to address climate change CO2 reduction targets.

The process of capturing and injecting CO2 in this manner is referred to as Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). Locating this project in Kern County was a result of the prevalence of several oilfields whose geology is amenable to capturing CO2 safely. Not all oilfields in Kern are suitable for this, however, there are several. Kern County as a hub for such projects has been discussed previously in this space.

The use of CO2 as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique is not new. Occidental, for one, has years of experience doing it.

According to HECA's website, "Over 100 CO2 injection projects are operating today in the United States ... where the CO2 travels through thousands of miles of piplines. CO2 has been safely injected underground into formation that naturally trap it underground in the almost macroscopic pore spaces in sub-surface rock layers. CO2 is a naturally occurring gas that exists in the air we breath and beneath the surface of the earth. The process of injecting CO2 back underground returns the CO2 to where it was naturally stored for millions of years."

The project will avoid over 2 million tons per year of GHG being released into the atmosphere. The power produced will provide 150,000 Californian homes with low carbon and low emission electricity, supplementing other sources of renewable energy such as wind and solar.

More information on the project can be found in the linked video and at the HECA website here: Hydrogen Energy California