California Resources launches DAC hub consortium
California Resources, through its subsidiary Carbon TerraVault (CTV) Holdings, said February 7 it had assembled a broad consortium of organisations to pursue US Department of Energy (DoE) funding aimed at incentivising the development of regional direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) hubs.
The consortium, with participation from the industry, technology, academia, research and development, community government and labour sectors, intends to create the California DAC Hub in Kern County. Other hubs would follow across the state.
Non-profit energy research and development institute EPRI, which leads the consortium alongside CTV and Kern Community College District, will submit an application in March under the DoE’s Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs Initiative, which is providing $3.5bn to support the commercialisation of atmospheric CO2removal, transport and secure geological storage.
Responding to a call from California governor Gavin Newsom for more ambitious climate action, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released an updated California Climate Plan targeting the removal or capture of 20mn mt/yr of CO2 by 2030 and 100mn mt/yr by 2045.
“Governor Newsom has set the most ambitious targets for California of any state in the nation – and in the world – to rapidly and permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere, and California DAC Hubs will be essential to helping achieve the governor’s goals,” California Resources CEO Mac McFarland said. “We have an unprecedented consortium of project participants who are committed to working together to create DAC+S hubs across the state, accelerate the energy transition and benefit working families throughout our California communities.”