Our Future Flows Through Pipelines

New CO2 pipelines and underground storage will help us achieve climate goals and sustain Louisiana jobs.

What is Carbon Capture and Storage? Why Do We Need It?

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Few challenges are more important than meeting our growing demand for energy and products that support modern life, while reducing environmental impacts. In order to meet this challenge, climate experts say we will need to use a mix of sustainable strategies, including Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is the process of capturing CO2 emissions that would have been released into the air and transporting them through CO2 pipelines to deep underground storage sites, permanently removing them from the environment.

CCS is not new; CCS projects have been operating around the world for decades. However, in order to meet our climate goals, we will need to greatly expand the effort, starting with the industries that produce the most carbon emissions. In fact, without CCS many of these industries would struggle to meet climate targets, and thus be at risk for closure.

CO2 Pipelines Are Needed for Carbon Capture

We can now capture carbon emissions instead of releasing them into the atmosphere. Pipelines are needed to deliver those emissions from where they’re captured to their permanent underground storage area hundreds or potentially thousands of miles away.

How CO2 storage works

How Permanent Storage Works

  • Storing CO2 is like the reverse of drilling for natural gas. Instead of drilling through rock to let the trapped gas out, CO2 is injected under the same impermeable layers of rock deep underground that keep oil and gas locked in place.
  • Potential CO2 storage sites are carefully selected only after undergoing rigorous analysis to ensure they are geologically suitable. This analysis helps mitigate the risk of the CO2 migrating to other formations or to the atmosphere. The CO2 is also stored thousands of feet underground, well below any sources of drinking water, or under the sea floor.
  • Industry has been safely injecting CO2 around the world for decades, successfully demonstrating the capability to safely and permanently store CO2.
  • The injected CO2 is held thousands of feet underground by thick, impermeable seal rocks that act as a lid to keep the stored CO2 in place. They are similar to the rocks that have kept oil, natural gas and naturally occurring CO2 underground for millions of years.
  • Once stored, the storage sites are constantly monitored. A combination of technologies is used to detect any potential leaks at the atmospheric, near-surface and deep sub-surface levels, including optical laser sensors, pressure-monitoring transponders and 4D seismicity technology.
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CO2 Pipelines and Underground Storage Will Secure LA’s Energy Future

  • The energy and industrial jobs that are so important to the Louisiana economy will struggle to reduce their carbon emissions to the point that they cannot continue to employ the thousands of people they do today.
  • Capturing their carbon emissions before they are released into the air and storing them away permanently will both help the environment and help these critical industries meet climate targets, sustaining these jobs and the Louisiana economy during the energy transition.
  • Because Louisiana is blessed with some of the best and safest underground storage areas, the added advantage is that Louisiana can lead the energy transition and develop a new low carbon economy. According to the 2019 National Petroleum Council (NPC) CCS report, Meeting the Dual Challenge, jobs associated with CCS investment in the U.S. could grow from about 10,000 per year initially, to more than 200,000 per year by 2050.
  • But here’s the challenge: The places where CO2 emissions are produced and captured are a distance away from locations along the Gulf Coast where we can store them.
  • The solution is building new pipelines to safely transport the carbon emissions from the sources to the storage areas, which in turn will create new jobs at the same time.
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Why Louisiana?

  • Louisiana has a long, proven history of safe underground storage operations.
  • America’s underground Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an example – two storage sites have been operating safely beneath Iberville and Cameron Parishes for more than 30 years.
  • Extensive research has identified the best, safest underground CO2 storage spaces, and Louisiana has an abundance of them.
  • Louisiana’s heavy industrial job base would be hard to sustain without capturing and storing carbon emissions.

Benefits Of New CO2 Pipelines

  • CO2 pipelines will provide construction jobs for thousands of welders, equipment operators, engineers and more… with wages topping $30 an hour.

  • The path to a low carbon and more secure energy future starts in Louisiana. We can lead the way to produce more low carbon American energy, which will strengthen U.S. energy security.

  • In the near future, we will be able to reduce or virtually eliminate the carbon footprint of the fuels we use by capturing the emissions created when they are consumed. We can reduce greenhouse gases and sustainably use today’s accessible and affordable energy.

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Today In America, There Are Already 5,000 Miles Of CO2 Pipelines

But More Are Needed To Secure Our Low Carbon Energy Future.

  • Many things we need produce carbon dioxide, including cars, planes, agriculture, the manufacture of materials we use for roads, concrete and countless other daily essentials.
  • Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will help us achieve our climate goals. Imagine capturing most of the CO2 produced by a city, a powerplant or a factory, and safely storing it underground forever.
  • CO2 pipelines will help us enjoy a modern economy while protecting the environment and creating new low carbon energy jobs.

CO2 Pipeline Safety Record

  • Publicly available government pipeline safety data collected by PHMSA shows CO2 pipeline incidents are rare and declining.
  • CO2 pipelines have a lower incident rate than both crude oil and refined products pipelines.
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Pipeline Safety Record graphic

CO2 Pipeline Safety In Action

Current federal law and government pipeline safety regulation requires CO2 pipeline operators to proactively inspect their pipelines and conduct preventive maintenance. Pipeline personnel monitor operations 24/7 and can shut down a CO2 pipeline if there is a problem. CO2 pipelines are constructed with high-grade steel and a protective coating to help prevent corrosion.

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Hi-Tech Inspection Tools

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Preventive Maintenance

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24/7 Monitoring

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Hi-Grade Steel & Protective Coatings

Why Do We Need More CO2 Pipelines?

  • The Gulf Coast region has some of the largest known CO2 storage capabilities in the world – and produces a large amount of carbon emissions.

  • Achieving our low carbon energy future will require connecting these storage sites with the technology that captures the carbon emissions at their source.

  • The safest, proven way to transport these captured emissions is by pipeline. CO2 has been transported safely by pipeline in the U.S. for decades, and currently there are more than 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines operating in the U.S.

  • We will need to greatly expand this pipeline network to take advantage of the benefits CCS promises for our local communities, our energy industry and our nation.

Past Experience

CO2 pipelines are not new. They’ve operated in the U.S. for over 50 years. They now span over 5,000 miles across several states.

Present Performance

CO2 pipelines have a safety track record as some of the safest pipelines we have. According to publicly available government data, over the last five years, CO2 pipelines have a lower incident rate than both crude oil and refined products pipelines.

Future Performance

The pipeline industry is currently developing new best practices for operators to prepare for and respond in the unlikely event of a CO2 pipeline incident.

If you have any questions, please contact our team directly using the link below or calling our project representative.

Michael Smith, Public & Stakeholder Engagement Lead
michael.d.smith1@exxonmobil.com
888-804-4788

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