Consortium forms to lead local bid for federal carbon hub

Feb. 7—A locally led consortium of businesses, academia and scientists has come together to apply for hundreds of millions of federal dollars to build a network of regional hubs for gathering carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and burying it to help slow climate change.

A subsidiary of Kern oil producer California Resources Corp., called Carbon TerraVault Holdings LLC, announced the consortium's creation Tuesday. Kern Community College District and its California Renewable Energy Laboratory announced they will be lead partners on the project.

If the local bid succeeds — if the U.S. Department of Energy decides early this summer to give $800 million or more to create the California DAC (Direct Air Capture) Hub — giant industrial equipment running on low-carbon energy will pull CO2 from the air, then send it by pipeline to injection sites, likely in western Kern, where it will be stored permanently underground in liquid or solid form. The operation would use reclaimed water or produce its own water.

The idea of such a project has been the focus of extensive discussion locally because of its economic and workforce benefits. The California DAC Hub would be expected to create union jobs, generate tax revenue in support of local public services and build on a movement to accelerate Kern's statewide leadership in renewable energy, carbon management and related industries.

While the consortium would leverage various local partnerships and investments, while exploiting local advantages in the areas of geology and infrastructure, there remains some question about how much support the effort will receive from environmental justice groups that have become active in local, regional and state regulatory discussions. Several EJ representatives have publicly expressed concern that DAC combined with CO2 storage, known as DAC+S, risks catastrophic releases of suffocating CO2. They have also spoken against putting the oil industry in a leadership position.

Some of those concerns were acknowledged in Monday's news release from Long Beach-based CRC.

"Key to the success of the California DAC Hub will be strong relationships with diverse community stakeholders to develop an equitable, just and environmentally responsible approach to the project," it stated.

Much of the bridge-building work has been assigned to KCCD, which was named a leader of the hub along with Carbon TerraVault subsidiary CTV Direct and EPRI, an energy research and development nonprofit based in Palo Alto.

KCCD's CREL is to lead development of an equitable community benefits plan required as part of the bid to become one of four DAC hubs across the country, as specified in 2021's federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which set aside $3.5 billion for the national effort.

A news release from the college district Tuesday cited wide agreement among climate experts that, in addition to cutting emissions, DAC "is essential to meeting climate goals" by helping remove historic carbon pollution from the atmosphere.

KCCD Chancellor Sonya Christian said in CRC's release the district is well-positioned to ensure the California DAC Hub is "grounded in authentic partnerships between community and industry and provides educational and workforce opportunities that will lead to economic mobility for the people and communities we serve."

She added, in the district's own release, the project stands as "a once in a generation opportunity for Kern County to remain at the forefront of energy technology and production while creating good jobs and economic prosperity for the community."

Part of the plan is to train local workers in new skills, including in science, engineering and technology, as part of a transition away from local economic dependence on petroleum.

CRC said the consortium aims to leverage existing local investments like CREL, funded by $50 million in state money; the High Road Training Partnership, involving KCCD and focused on equitable economic development; and the countywide B3K economic collaboration. Among other investments and projects it referred to were a pair of U.S. Department of Energy assistance grants awarded last year to the city of Bakersfield and county of Kern; Cal State Bakersfield's Energy Innovation Center, funded last year by $83 million in state money; and expectations a local coalition will receive tens of millions of dollars from the state's Community Economic Resilience Fund.

The DAC consortium, first reported by The Californian while it was still being formed in October, comprises a list of companies, utilities, institutions of higher education, national labs, unions and local business and community groups.

On the consortium's behalf, EPRI is working to file a full application with the federal government by mid-March. The U.S. DOE is scheduled to announce awards at the end of June.