Oxy, Enterprise Products Partners to collaborate on carbon dioxide pipeline system for Texas project

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Under its deal with Occidental, pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners will create a carbon dioxide pipeline system for 1PointFive’s Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Occidental Petroleum’s carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) subsidiary has tapped another Houston-based company to develop a carbon dioxide pipeline and transportation network for one of its CCUS hubs.

Under its deal with Occidental, pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners will create a carbon dioxide pipeline system for 1PointFive’s Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub, which will span more than 55,000 acres in Chambers, Liberty, and Jefferson counties. The hub will be able to hold about 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. The new pipeline network will be co-located with existing pipelines.

Enterprise Products Partners also will supply fee-based services for transporting CO2 emissions from industrial facilities near the Houston Ship Channel to the Bluebonnet hub.

“This agreement pairs our expertise managing large volumes of CO2 with Enterprise’s decades of midstream experience to bring confidence to industrial customers seeking a decarbonization solution,” Jeff Alvarez, president of 1PointFive’s sequestration business, says in a news release.

The Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help cover development costs.

“This hub is located between two of the largest industrial corridors in Texas so captured CO2 can be efficiently transported and safely sequestered,” Alvarez said in 2023. “Rather than starting from scratch with individual capture and sequestration projects, companies can plug into this hub for access to shared carbon infrastructure.”

Occidental subsidiary 1PointFive received federal funding — and more trending Houston energy transition news. Photo via 1pointfive.com

DOE doles out $36M to Oxy for carbon capture hubs

show me the money

Two carbon dioxide sequestration hubs being built by a subsidiary of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum have received a total of $36 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The two 1PointFive projects that gained federal funding are the Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub, located in the Houston area’s Chambers County, and the Magnolia Sequestration Hub, located in Allen Parish, Louisiana.

The more than 55,000-acre Bluebonnet site will potentially store about 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. The 26,000-acre Magnolia hub will offer about 300 million metric tons of CO2 storage capacity.

“We are using our over 50 years of carbon management expertise and experience developing projects at scale to deliver a proven solution that helps advance industrial decarbonization,” Jeff Alvarez, president of 1PointFive Sequestration, says in a news release.

The 1PointFive hubs are aimed at helping hard-to-decarbonize industries achieve climate goals.

The carbon sequestration process captures carbon dioxide in the air and then stores it. The 1PointFive hubs will inject captured CO2 into underground geological formations.

Fortune Business Insights predicts the value of the global market for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) will climb from $3.54 billion in 2024 to $14.51 billion by 2032.

Here's 1PoinFive's newest customer on its Texas CCUS project. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Oxy subsidiary secures Microsoft as largest-ever DAC carbon removal credit customer

major move

Occidental Petroleum’s Houston-based carbon capture, utilization and, sequestration (CCUS) subsidiary, 1PointFive, has inked a six-year deal to sell 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal credits to software giant Microsoft.

In a news release, 1Point5 says this agreement represents the largest-ever single purchase of carbon credits enabled by direct air capture (DAC). DAC technology pulls CO2 from the air at any location, not just where carbon dioxide is emitted.

Under the agreement, the carbon dioxide that underlies the credits will be stored in a below-the-surface saline aquifer and won’t be used to produce oil or gas.

“A commitment of this magnitude further demonstrates how one of the world’s largest corporations is integrating scalable [DAC] into its net-zero strategy,” says Michael Avery, president and general manager of 1PointFive. “Energy demand across the technology industry is increasing, and we believe [DAC] is uniquely suited to remove residual emissions and further climate goals.”

Brian Marrs, senior director for carbon removal and energy at Microsoft, says DAC plays a key role in Microsoft’s effort to become carbon-negative by 2030.

The carbon dioxide will be stored at 1PointFive’s first industrial-scale DAC plant, being built near Odessa. The $1.3 billion Stratos project, which 1Point5 is developing through a joint venture with investment manager BlackRock, is designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.

The facility is scheduled to open in mid-2025.

Aside from Microsoft, organizations that have agreed to buy carbon removal credits from 1Point5 include Amazon, Airbus, All Nippon Airways, the Houston Astros, the Houston Texans, and TD Bank.

Occidental says 1PointFive plans to set up more than 100 DAC facilities worldwide by 2035.

The four companies are among 24 semifinalists in the agency’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize program that were chosen to receive a total of $1.2 million for their commercial-scale CO2 removal technology.

DOE doles out funding to 4 Houston tackling carbon dioxide removal tech

seeing less co2

Four Houston companies have received $50,000 each from the U.S. Department of Energy to further develop their carbon dioxide removal technology.

The funding comes in the form of the Department of Energy’s purchase of CO2 removal credits.

“The Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Prize is a first-of-a-kind initiative to catalyze the market for high-quality CO2 removal credits, helping jumpstart a critical decarbonization tool,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says in a news release.

The Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize project will provide up to $35 million in cash awards. The 24 semifinalists will be whittled down to as many as 10 finalists that’ll receive up to $3 million each.

The four Houston companies that have been named semifinalists are:

Climate Robotics. The company’s mobile platform produces and applies biochar — organic waste material or biomass — to store CO2.
Mati Carbon. The companyremoves carbon dioxide and stores it in rocks to boost rice productivity in the U.S.
1PointFive. The company, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, is building facility that will eventually capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
Vaulted Deep. The companyundertakes geologic storage of slurried organic waste for permanent removal of CO2.

Granholm says the DOE prize program and the Biden administration “are giving the private sector the tools they need to make real contributions to our fight against the climate crisis and deliver real benefits to communities across the nation.”

Three of the companies selected — Vaulted Deep, Mati Carbon, and Climate Robotics — were also recently named finalists in Elon Musk's XPRIZE's four-year global competition is designed to combat climate change with innovative solutions.

Here's 1PoinFive's newest customer on its Texas CCUS project. Photo via 1pointfive.com

AT&T makes deal with Oxy for carbon credits

seeing green

Telecommunications giant AT&T has agreed to purchase carbon removal credits from 1PointFive, the carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) subsidiary of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum.

Financial details weren’t disclosed.

The carbon credits will be tied to STRATOS, 1PointFive’s first large-scale direct air capture (DAC) facility. The billion-dollar project is being built near Odessa.

“AT&T’s carbon removal credit purchase is another proof point of the vital role that [DAC] can play in providing a high-integrity and durable solution to help organizations address their emissions,” Michael Avery, president and general manager of 1PointFive, says in a news release.

The AT&T deal comes just one month after 1PointFive announced a similar agreement with Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation, which specializes in industrial automation and digital transformation.

In November, Occidental announced that New York City-based investment manager BlackRock was chipping in $550 million as part of a joint venture to build STRATOS. The project, set to be completed in 2025, is designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon emissions once it’s fully online.

Under 1PointFive’s deal with Dallas-based AT&T, CO2 underpinning the removal credits will be sucked out of the air and stored in underground salt-water formations.

In conjunction with the DAC deal, 1PointFive has joined AT&T’s Connected Climate Initiative, an effort aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by one gigaton by 2035.

Here's 1PoinFive's newest customer on its Texas CCUS project. Photo via 1pointfive.com

Oxy's sustainability subsidiary announces DAC agreement with commodities group

new deal

Oxy's carbon capture, utilization and sequestration company announced it's latest carbon dioxide removal credits purchasing agreement with a global commodities group.

Trafigura has agreed to purchase carbon dioxide removal credits to be produced from 1PointFive’s first industrial-scale Direct Air Capture facility, Stratos, that is being built in Texas.

Stratos, which is expected to be the largest facility of its kind in the world, will be configured to be able to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually when fully operational. The captured CO2 underlying Trafigura’s removal credits plan to be stored through durable subsurface saline sequestration.

The advance purchase of DAC credits from 1PointFive will support early-stage technologies to enable high-quality carbon removal credits. The deal can lead to broader adoption of 1PointFive’s CDR credits to help hard-to-abate industries address their emissions.

“We are delighted to collaborate with 1PointFive as we expand our global customer offering for hard-to-abate sectors,” Hannah Hauman, global head of Carbon Trading for Trafigura, says in a news release. “Supporting the development of large-scale removals projects demonstrates our commitment to advancing carbon sequestration technologies, underpinning demand today to enable the scaling of production for tomorrow.”

1PointFive is working to help curb global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2050 through the deployment of decarbonization solutions, which includes Carbon Engineering's Direct Air Capture and AIR TO FUELS solutions alongside geologic sequestration hubs.

Last November, Canada’s TD Securities investment bank agreed to buy 27,500 metric tons of carbon removal credits from 1PointFive's Stratos, news that followed Amazon's commitment to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits. BlackRock has agreed to pump $550 million into the project, the company reported last fall.

Trafigura continues to invest in renewable energy projects and technologies to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. The company works through joint ventures including H2Energy Europe and Nala Renewables. The deal is Trafigura’s first transaction towards meeting its 2023 goal, as is its commitment as a Founding Member of the First Movers Coalition to purchase at least 50,000 tons of durable and scalable net carbon dioxide removal credits generated through advanced CDR technologies.

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Houston companies scoop up $31M in funds from DOE, EPA methane emissions program

fresh funds

The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of seven projects from Houston companies to receive funding through the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.

The projects are among 43 others nationwide, including 12 from Texas, that reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The DOE and EPA awarded $850 million in total through the program.

The Houston companies picked up $31.7 million in federal funding through the program in addition to more than $9.5 million in non-federal dollars.

“I’m excited about the opportunities these will create internally but even more so the creation of jobs and training opportunities for the communities in which we work,” Scott McCurdy, Encino Environmental Services CEO, said in a news release. His company received awards for two projects.

“These projects will allow us to further support and strengthen the U.S. Energy industry’s ability to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy globally,” he added.

The Houston-area awards included:

DaphneTech USA LLC

Total funding: $5.8 million (approximately $4.5 million in federal, $1.3 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Daphne and Williams Methane Slip Abatement Plasma-Catalyst Scale-Up project. Daphne will study how its SlipPure technology, a novel exhaust gas cleaning system that abates methane and exhaust gas pollution from natural gas-fueled engines, can be economically viable across multiple engine types and operating conditions.

Baker Hughes Energy Transition LLC

Total funding: $7.47 million (approximately $6 million in federal, $1.5 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Advancing Low Cost CH4 Emissions Reduction from Flares through Large Scale Deployment of Retrofittable and Adaptive Technology project. The project aims to develop a scalable, integrated methane emissions reduction system for flares based on optical gas imaging and estimation algorithms.

Encino Environmental Services

Total funding: $15.17 million (approximately $11 million in federal, $4.17 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for two projects. The Advanced Methane Reduction System: Integrating Infrared and Visual Imaging to Assess Net Heating Value at the Combustion Zone and Determine Combustion Efficiency to Enhance Flaring Performance project aims to develop and deploy an advanced continuous emissions monitoring system. It’s Advancing Methane Emissions Reduction through Innovative Technology project will develop and deploy a technology using sensors and composite materials to address emissions originating in storage tanks.

Envana Software Solutions

Total funding: $5.26 million (approximately $4.2 million in federal, $1 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Leak Detection and Reduction Software to Identify Methane Emissions and Trigger Mitigation at Oil and Gas Production Facilities Based on SCADA Data project. It aims to improve its Recon software for monitoring methane emissions and develop partnerships with local universities and organizations.

Capwell Services Inc.

Total funding: $4.19 million (approximately $3.3 million in federal, $837,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Methane Emissions Abatement Technology for Low-Flow and Intermittent Emission Sources project. It aims to to deploy and field-test a methane abatement unit and improve air quality and health outcomes for communities near production facilities and establish field technician internships for local residents.

Blue Sky Measurements

Total funding: $3.41 million (approximately $2.7 million in federal, $683,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Field Validation of Novel Fixed Position Optical Sensor for Fugitive Methane Emission Detection Quantification and Location with Real-Time Notification for Rapid Mitigation project. It aims to field test an optical sensing technology at six well sites in the Permian Basin.

Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Hyliion Inc. were other Texas-based organizations to earn awards.

See the full list of projects here.

Texas university's 'WaterHub' will dramatically reduce water usage by 40%

Sustainable Move

A major advancement in sustainability is coming to one Texas university. A new UT WaterHub at the University of Texas at Austin will be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. and will transform how the university manages its water resources.

It's designed to work with natural processes instead of against them for water savings of an estimated 40 percent. It's slated for completion in late 2027.

The university has had an active water recovery program since the 1980s. Still, water is becoming an increasing concern in Austin. According to Texas Living Waters, a coalition of conservation groups, Texas loses enough water annually to fill Lady Bird Lake roughly 89 times over.

As Austin continues to expand and face water shortages, the region's water supply faces increased pressure. The UT WaterHub plans to address this challenge by recycling water for campus energy operations, helping preserve water resources for both the university and local communities.

The 9,600-square-foot water treatment facility will use an innovative filtration approach. To reduce reliance on expensive machinery and chemicals, the system uses plants to naturally filter water and gravity to pull it in the direction it needs to go. Used water will be gathered from a new collection point near the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium and transported to the WaterHub, located in the heart of the engineering district. The facility's design includes a greenhouse viewable to the public, serving as an interactive learning space.

Beyond water conservation, the facility is designed to protect the university against extreme weather events like winter storms. This new initiative will create a reliable backup water supply while decreasing university water usage, and will even reduce wastewater sent to the city by up to 70 percent.

H2O Innovation, UT’s collaborator in this project, specializes in water solutions, helping organizations manage their water efficiently.

"By combining cutting-edge technology with our innovative financing approach, we’re making it easier for organizations to adopt sustainable water practices that benefit both their bottom line and the environment, paving a step forward in water positivity,” said H2O Innovation president and CEO Frédéric Dugré in a press release.

The university expects significant cost savings with this project, since it won't have to spend as much on buying water from the city or paying fees to dispose of used water. Over the next several years, this could add up to millions of dollars.

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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap Austin.

Report: Texas solar power, battery storage helped stabilize grid in summer 2024, but challenges remain

by the numbers

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows that solar power and battery storage capacity helped stabilize Texas’ electric grid last summer.

Between June 1 and Aug. 31, solar power met nearly 25 percent of midday electricity demand within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid. Rising solar and battery output in ERCOT assisted Texans during a summer of triple-digit heat and record load demands, but the report fears that the state’s power load will be “pushed to its limits” soon.

The report examined how the grid performed during more demanding hours. At peak times, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer of 2024, solar output averaged nearly 17,000 megawatts compared with 12,000 megawatts during those hours in the previous year. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., discharge from battery facilities averaged 714 megawatts in 2024 after averaging 238 megawatts for those hours in 2023. Solar and battery output have continued to grow since then, according to the report.

“Batteries made a meaningful contribution to what those shoulder periods look like and how much scarcity we get into during these peak events,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said at a board of directors conference call.

Increases in capacity from solar and battery-storage power in 2024 also eclipsed those of 2023. In 2023 ECOT added 4,570 megawatts of solar, compared to adding nearly 9,700 megawatts in 2024. Growth in battery storage capacity also increased from about 1,500 megawatts added in 2023 to more than 4,000 megawatts added in 2024. Natural gas capacity also saw increases while wind capacity dropped by about 50 percent.

Texas’ installation of utility-scale solar surpassed California’s in the spring of last year, and jumped from 1,900 megawatts in 2019 to over 20,000 megawatts in 2024 with solar meeting about 50 percent of Texas' peak power demand during some days.

While the numbers are encouraging, the report states that there could be future challenges, as more generating capacity will be required due to data center construction and broader electrification trends. The development of generating more capacity will rely on multiple factors like price signals and market conditions that invite more baseload and dispatchable generating capacity, which includes longer-duration batteries, and investment in power purchase agreements and other power arrangements by large-scale consumers, according to the report.

Additionally, peak demand during winter freezes presents challenges not seen in the summer. For example, in colder months, peak electricity demand often occurs in the early morning before solar energy is available, and it predicts that current battery storage may be insufficient to meet the demand. The analysis indicated a 50% chance of rolling outages during a cold snap similar to December 2022 and an 80% chance if conditions mirror the February 2021 deep freeze at the grid’s current state.

The report also claimed that ERCOT’s energy-only market design and new incentive structures, such as the Texas Energy Fund, do not appear to be enough to meet the predicted future magnitude and speed of load growth.

Read the full report here.

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