ExxonMobil, CF Industries in Louisiana CCS plan
SUMMARY
US major will transport and store 2mn mt/yr of carbon dioxide produced at CF Industries' Louisiana ammonia complex. [Image: CF Industries]
By Dale LunanCF Industries, a global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products, has entered into a commercial agreement with ExxonMobil to capture and sequester up to 2mn metric tons/year of CO2 in Louisiana, the US major said October 12.
CF Industries will capture the CO2 at its ammonia manufacturing complex near Donaldsonville, Louisiana, where it is building a $200mn CO2 dehydration and compression facility. ExxonMobil will then transport the CO2, under a separate agreement with EnLink Midstream, to a 125,000-acre CO2 storage location it is developing in Vermilion Parish.
“As we leverage proven carbon capture and sequestration technology, CF Industries will be first-to-market with a significant volume of blue ammonia,” CF Industries CEO Tony Will said. “This will enable us to supply this low-carbon energy source to hard-to-abate industries that increasingly view it as critical to their own decarbonisation goals.”
CF Industries has plans to market 1.7mn mt/yr of blue ammonia, demand for which is expected to grow significantly as a decarbonised energy source, not only for its hydrogen content but also as a fuel. The captured CO2 is equivalent to replacing about 700,000 gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles, ExxonMobil said.
“This landmark project represents large-scale, real-world progress on the journey to decarbonise the global economy,” said Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. “We’re encouraged by the momentum we see building for projects of this kind, thanks to supportive policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Start-up of the project is scheduled for early 2025 and aligns with Louisiana’s objectives of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, state governor John Bel Edwards said.
“Today’s announcement of this unprecedented, large-scale, low-carbon partnership is a key milepost on Louisiana’s path toward a brighter future for our climate, our economy and our people,” he said. “The collaboration and innovation to bring carbon capture and storage technology forward at this scale reaffirms our state’s ability to grow our economy without sacrificing our long-term emission-reduction goals to net zero by 2050.”
