Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
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Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
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Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#2Current refrigerants (e.g., R-410) have large global warming potentials (GWP) when they inevitably leak into the atmosphere, so there's a move to other chemicals. On of the leading contenders (at least in the commercial/industrial space) is actually CO2 (R-744):
* https://www.hpacmag.com/features/co2-as-a-refrigerant-yesco2...
* https://www.ohio.edu/mechanical/thermo/Applied/Chapt.7_11/Ch...
* https://blog.isa.org/why-co2-is-the-most-promising-refrigera...
* https://plumbingandhvac.ca/co2-refrigeration/
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide#Refrigerant
CO2 has GWP=1, and just about everything else is higher.
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#3The real rationale is a few paragraphs down:
> "For now, Denbury’s pipeline network isn’t really low carbon, but instead will function as an extension of Exxon’s normal oil business. Today the CO2 carried in the pipelines is used for “enhanced oil recovery,” a process in which it is injected into oil wells to push out the last few drops."
All the DOE-funded 'clean coal' and similar CCS schemes were all conveniently set up near end-of-life oilfields, and whatever CO2 they produced was used to help get the last few barrels out. Of course the CO2 is carrying the oil so it's mostly lost to the atmosphere during the processing/refining stage.
Carbon capture and storage from fossil fuels has been nothing but a massive fraud; capturing and burying 100% of the carbon from coal would take significantly more energy than you can get from burning that amount of coal. Notably, data about this key ration (energy cost per ton of buried carbon vs. energy cost from burning the source fuel) is hidden on the private side of DOE public-private partnerships and can't be accessed by the public, even by FOIA requests.
CCS is literally one of the biggest scientific frauds perpetrated on the public in the history of the DOE.
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#4> Exxon’s vision is that eventually these pipelines will ferry CO2 captured from industrial point sources like cement and steel plants, and potentially from natural gas power plants, and transport it to underground rock formations or old oil wells where it could be buried (Denbury also owns a number of large sites for carbon sequestration).
Color me skeptical. The article offers no supporting evidence that this is Exxon's "vision", and then hits us with this:
> For now, Denbury’s pipeline network isn’t really low carbon, but instead will function as an extension of Exxon’s normal oil business. Today the CO2 carried in the pipelines is used for “enhanced oil recovery,” a process in which it is injected into oil wells to push out the last few drops.
Sounds like they made the acquisition for their current fossil fuel business, not a bet that "carbon will be the new oil."
And as a cherry on top:
> The company plans to double the size of its liquefied natural gas business by 2030, an executive said this week, with a focus on buyers in Asia.
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#5The real rationale is a few paragraphs down: > "For now, Denbury’s pipeline network isn’t really low carbon, but instead will function as an extension of Exxon’s normal oil business. Today the CO2 carried in the pipelines is used for “enhanced oil recovery,” a process in which it is injected into oil wells to push out the last few drops." All the DOE-funded 'clean coal' and similar CCS schemes were all conveniently s…
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Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#6The real rationale is a few paragraphs down: > "For now, Denbury’s pipeline network isn’t really low carbon, but instead will function as an extension of Exxon’s normal oil business. Today the CO2 carried in the pipelines is used for “enhanced oil recovery,” a process in which it is injected into oil wells to push out the last few drops." All the DOE-funded 'clean coal' and similar CCS schemes were all conveniently s…
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Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#7The real rationale is a few paragraphs down: > "For now, Denbury’s pipeline network isn’t really low carbon, but instead will function as an extension of Exxon’s normal oil business. Today the CO2 carried in the pipelines is used for “enhanced oil recovery,” a process in which it is injected into oil wells to push out the last few drops." All the DOE-funded 'clean coal' and similar CCS schemes were all conveniently s…
“capturing and burying 100% of the carbon”
What about 50%? Does the cost go up as you try to capture a larger percentage?
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#8Key points:
"Carbon management is becoming increasingly popular with oil companies, since it plays to their know-how in trading, transporting, and storing molecules (as opposed to electrons from renewable energy, which are an entirely different business). ... It also allows Exxon to tap one of the most lucrative tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act: $85 per ton of CO2 that is permanently stored underground. "
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#9> Exxon’s vision is that eventually these pipelines will ferry CO2 captured from industrial point sources like cement and steel plants, and potentially from natural gas power plants, and transport it to underground rock formations or old oil wells where it could be buried (Denbury also owns a number of large sites for carbon sequestration). Color me skeptical. The article offers no supporting evidence that this is Ex…
It sounds more like an excuse to continue to output oil while doing absolutely nothing to stop the further degradation of out environment.
Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil
#10Summary:
https://tinyurl.com/22452u66