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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

#81
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> parts of the Mediterranean are estimated to have been 2°C hotter than today. That's not a change in global average tempreture though, that's a local variation. > but the climate had constantly changed throughout history. 'History' is written history, and no, global climatic parameters haven't changed in written history. I believe you might be thinking of geological time - and yes, on long time scales climate has ch…

There is historical data which suggests that there has been two ice ages in the time of modern humans. The climate only appears to be stable when observed over a short timespan. I don't think there is any doubt that human activity is contributing to climate change. It's ironic that modern civilization and population numbers aren't possible without fossil fuels, but their use will ultimately cause it's demise.

Consider that during the first ice age, humans had not left Africa - and during the second ice age, much of North America and Europe were uninhabitable

Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil

#82
post #65
post #27

They're going to charge us twice. Once for emitting it, second time for sequestering it. The fight for subsidies up here in Canada is insane. The electricity generated is already more expensive then renewables, and soon they can pad their margins with novelty projects that may or may not pan out, while telling us in their annual reports how great they are.

>They're going to charge us twice. Once for emitting it, second time for sequestering it. The local water utility charges you once for providing the water, and another time for treating it (ie. sewers). Are you similarly outraged?

Did the local water utility know sewage was a problem half a century ago but spend decades denying that, encouraging excessive use, and preventing development of treatment systems or alternatives?

That’s why this analogy doesn’t work: water is a hard requirement. Fossil fuels can be replaced easily in many applications.

Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil

#83
Carbon is definitely not the new oil. My hope is that carbon becomes the feedstock of the future (with a long way to go).

Exxon is an easy target in this but there are many other companies and industries that are working towards carbon capture.

I'm working with ethanol producers, co2 utilization companies, direct air capture, and other capture technology companies to move the carbon management industry forward. Exxon will be a player but not THE player in carbon management.

The article fails to mention that Denbury has several Class VI well permits (these are the wells where CO2 is injected) in areas near Denbury pipelines. Everyone will talk about the Gulf Coast as the strategic reason but Denbury's pipeline in Wyoming will be key to advancing the industry since Wyoming and North Dakota have authority over the Class VI wells today. I've heard estimates of 40 million tons of CO2 storage capacity in one of the Wyoming projects (that's just one of several projects).

Disclosure: I monitor carbon management at https://decarbonfuse.com by tracking the ccus, dac, and beccs projects in North America.

Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil

#84
post #39

It's nonsense like this that makes a more rational debate around carbon capture difficult. Yes, CCS will likely have to play some role in a future decarbonized society, e.g. for cement production. But it's not a plausible lifeline for fossil fuel companies. The vast bulk of emission reductions need to come from phasing down fossil fuel use, and that is fundamentally incompatible with their business model. (shameless…

> It's nonsense like this that makes a more rational debate around carbon capture difficult.

such a great point and couldn't agree more.

in the US, I'm seeing more ethanol & chemical companies adopting carbon capture right now, not fossil fuel companies. it will be interesting to see how it evolves in the next couple years.

> (shameless self plug: I tried to write down my view on the whole CCS issue recently: https://industrydecarbonization.com/news/can-ccs-escape-from... )

subscribed! and you can follow some of the north america projects at https://decarbonfuse.com

Re: Exxon bets carbon will be the new oil

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Eat the cake and have it too I don't understand how you're using this metaphor here. What's the cake? WRT the environment, they're just eating it.

The environment yes, and after they've eaten it they can continue making money from it, by partly reversing a bit of the damage they did.

We call that recycling.
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