Chevron, Schlumberger withdraw request for California carbon-capture permit
By Liz Hampton and Sabrina Valle
(Reuters) – Prime U.S. vitality firms Chevron and Schlumberger have withdrawn an utility to seize carbon dioxide emissions and retailer them deep underground in central California, spokespeople mentioned on Wednesday, placing the clean-energy challenge on maintain after U.S. environmental regulators questioned it.
Burying industrial gases has turn into a spotlight for vitality firms searching for to point out buyers they’re prepared to scale back emissions and assist struggle local weather change. Their allow was one in all greater than a dozen filed with the U.S. Environmental Safety Company (EPA), which requested the appliance be withdrawn.
In a March 25 letter, the EPA mentioned the appliance was “considerably incomplete,” citing modifications to the appliance and the failure to provide monetary assurances.
The businesses had fashioned a enterprise to revive an idled biomass-fueled energy plant and generate “carbon detrimental energy” in Mendota, close to Fresno, California. The challenge included an underground carbon sequestration web site and would take away about 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide a yr.
“The EPA did the correct factor by hitting the brakes on the Mendota carbon seize challenge,” mentioned Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, an legal professional for the Heart for Organic Range. “Carbon seize is dangerous, costly, and incompatible with environmental justice.”
Chevron and Schlumberger mentioned they elected to withdraw the allow utility and the group would proceed “to assemble and consider challenge info.”
“The crew stays dedicated to growing decrease carbon options and doing so in an environmentally and socially accountable method,” spokespeople mentioned.
Individually, Chevron on Wednesday mentioned it was launching a carbon-capture and storage challenge within the San Joaquin Valley aimed toward lowering emissions from its personal operations in California.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Sabrina Valle in Houston; Modifying by David Gregorio)
