Carbon CreditsOXY & Carbon Engineering to Build the World's Largest Carbon Capture Plant

OXY & Carbon Engineering to Build the World’s Largest Carbon Capture Plant

Oil giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Carbon Engineering (CE) are constructing the world’s largest direct air carbon capture (DAC) plant in the United States’ Permian basin.

Carbon Engineering focuses on the global deployment of megaton-scale DAC technology. The company has been working on capturing CO2 from the air since 2015.

According to Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, their plant will capture up to 500,000 tons of CO2 each year. This plant will be 120x bigger than the other largest DAC facility called Mammoth.

The Swiss startup Climeworks AG runs Mammoth in Iceland. The facility, once finished, will remove around 36,000 tons of CO2 per year. That corresponds to only 0.0001% of the 36 billion tons of CO2 emitted by humans each year.

Largest Carbon Capture Plant & Net Zero

Occidental Petroleum has already made commitments to reach net zero by 2050. In particular, it seeks to negate emissions from customers who burn the oil and gas extracts, also called Scope 3 emissions. This emission makes up as much as 80% of the firm’s total emissions.

But most of the company’s rivals in the U.S. don’t include customer emissions in their climate goals.

In an interview on a recent podcast, OXY’s CEO revealed their plan to focus more on carbon capture and sequestration than exclusive fossil fuel extraction.

The firm realized that establishing the world’s largest carbon capture plant is one way to be part of the energy transition. That’s because using CO2 generated by human activities is a way that Occidental can continue with its incremental oil production.

The Direct Air Capture plant will rely on carbon capture tech to suck in emissions directly from industrial sources or from the air that will be injected underground.

Here’s how the Direct Air Capture process works:

Carbon Engineering DAC techLarge businesses that are striving to have climate plans are relying on offsets to include in their carbon accounting. Coming up with net zero plans is just the first part of the process. Achieving them is even more critical.

  • However, the supply of carbon removal offsets is more limited than the offsets from carbon avoidance projects such as forestry and renewable energy.

The plant will provide cost-effective solutions that hard-to-decarbonize industries can use like offsets and their own emissions reduction programs to help achieve net zero.

Captured CO2 can be safely sequestered deep underground in saline formations. It is also useful in producing hydrocarbons for low-carbon fuels and in products like chemicals and building materials.

OXY and Net Zero Oil

The largest carbon capture plant is also looking forward to the revenue from “net zero oil” it aims to produce. This oil is produced through the process called Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) which extracts more oil from reservoirs than other methods.

Net zero oil with EOR means injecting more captured CO2 into oil reservoirs than what’s released during the extraction and burning of the oil.

Currently, Occidental Petroleum is using CO2 emitted by underground mines and not the CO2 removed from the air or direct emissions from industrial plants.

If OXY reaches net zero by 2050, the company aims to have revenue from carbon capture equal to that from Enhanced Oil Recovery.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the world’s largest carbon capture plant is set for November 29, with commercial operations to begin at the end of 2024.



Most Popular



Ultimate Guide



Loading...



LATEST CARBON NEWS

Tencent Partners with Temasek-Backed GenZero to Boost Carbon Credits

Tencent, one of China’s largest technology companies, has made a significant move towards sustainability by forming a partnership with GenZero, a Temasek-owned investment platform....

SolarBank and CIM Group Announce $100M Financing to Power 97 MW of U.S. Renewable Energy Projects

Disseminated on behalf of SolarBank Corporation SolarBank Corporation (NASDAQ: SUUN; Cboe CA: SUNN; FSE: GY2) is growing its solar footprint in the U.S. It has...

Removall and Sumitomo Team Up to Expand High-Quality Carbon Credits – EXCLUSIVE Interview with Removall CEO Jérôme Beilin Inside

Removall, the France-based carbon project developer, and Sumitomo Corporation have launched a joint venture called Summit Removall. This venture will co-invest in high-quality, nature-based...

Google, Shell Extend NoordzeeWind Offshore Wind Energy Deal

In a major step for sustainable energy, Google has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Shell. This deal will extend the life of...
CARBON INVESTOR EDUCATION

Planting Trees for Carbon Credits: Everything You Need to Know

As climate change intensifies, nations and industries are seeking innovative ways to cut carbon footprints. Carbon credits have emerged as a key tool in...

What is SMR? The Ultimate Guide to Small Modular Reactors

Energy is the cornerstone of modern life. We need electricity for healthcare, transportation, communication, and more. Many countries are choosing nuclear power because it...

What Is Carbon Dioxide Removal? Top Buyers and Sellers of CDR Credits in 2024

The world must remove 5–16 billion metric tons of CO₂ annually by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But with emissions still rising,...

Top 5 Carbon ETFs for Sustainable Investing in 2025

Like stocks, investors can buy and sell Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) whenever the market is open. Often investing in carbon credits through ETFs offers a...