A consortium that includes Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) was awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Energy for a proposal to develop California’s first full-scale direct air capture and storage network of regional hubs. “This is an important step in our efforts to help California decarbonize and reach net-zero goals. California’s transition to net zero will require a broad portfolio of diverse energy sources and decarbonization tools to reduce emissions, including carbon management,” said SoCalGas President Maryam Brown. “This project could reduce one million metric tons of carbon dioxide directly from the air each year and aid in a more equitable energy transition. Our research has shown that carbon management, when combined with electrification and clean fuels, delivers the most affordable, resilient and technologically proven path to full carbon neutrality.”
The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it selected the California Direct Air Capture hub for up to $11.8 million in funding to study a regional carbon management hub in Kern County. This project is among only five projects nationwide – the only projected located in California – to be selected funding to begin designing a carbon capture hub project under the department’s $3.5 billion Direct Air Capture Hubs program. A total of 21 projects were selected in the announcement.
The California Direct Air Capture hub is made up of a consortium of nearly 40 organizations from across industry, community, tribes, government, technology, national labs, academia, labor, and workforce development. SoCalGas will play an important role in the effort, advancing a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study to transport carbon captured from the air to permanent carbon storage in the region. Efforts completed to date reflect that the hub could remove 1 million or more metric tons of CO2 annually – equivalent to taking more than 220,000 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles off the road each year – in line with the state’s 20 million metric ton carbon removal target for 2030 and 100 million metric ton carbon removal target for 2045.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s stated purpose for the proposed hub funding is to “accelerate the commercialization of CO2 removal via integrated capture from the atmosphere, processing, transport, and secure geologic storage and/or conversion.” In addition to capturing carbon, the DOE suggests potential benefits could also include the removal other air pollutants like particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx). There is widespread agreement among scientists and policymakers that carbon management will be necessary to achieve a cleaner future. The State of California has signaled that carbon management will be critical to its efforts to reach net-zero by 2045, with Gov. Gavin Newsom writing, “We know from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that there is no path to carbon neutrality without carbon capture and sequestration.”