SUMMARY

Pennsylvania project aims to sequester 300,000 mt/yr of carbon dioxide.

By Dale Lunan

US engineering firm Black & Veatch said August 31 it had begun pre-FEED activities associated with the KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis project in Pennsylvania, which will produce blue hydrogen, urea and ammonia from Appalachia shale gas and sequester up to 300,000 mt/yr of CO2.

The pre-FEED work is being funded in large part on the back of an investment in June by OGCI Climate Investments, a subsidiary of the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative. It is one of the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Pennsylvania.

“The KeyState project aligns with the job creation and economic impact objectives contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, which support Appalachian communities that can benefit from the energy transition,” KeyState CEO Perry Babb said. “Emissions reduction and great job creation can happen together and make a tremendous difference in many areas.”

Black & Veatch has extensive experience in ammonia and nitrogen-based fertiliser production and with liquefied hydrogen, CCS and power generation, all of which align with KeyState’s objectives.

“As decarbonisation efforts accelerate around the globe, this facility represents an important investment in a lower-carbon future and demonstrates that it is possible to produce greener fertilisers and fuels while sequestering greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change,” said Laszlo von Lazar, president of energy and process industries at Black & Veatch.