Carbon Capture in Corpus

December 12, 2023

The Port of Corpus Christi, the country’s largest energy port, is working with researchers at the Bureau of Economic Geology on a project to decarbonize by diverting carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ emissions from its industrial operations to beneath the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico for permanent storage.

The ultimate goal of the project is to store the emissions deep beneath the seafloor in nearby state-managed waters. Bureau researchers are helping find the best storage locations and determining the technical and economic feasibility of the project.

This feasibility study, which is funded by a $7.36 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, will last for two years.

Tip Meckel, a senior research scientist at the bureau, and his team at the Gulf Coast Carbon Center will be using high-resolution marine seismic imaging technology to characterize potential storage sites and collect baseline data that will be used for long-term monitoring if the project proceeds. He said that significant work has already been done in the area by the center that could benefit the project.

“The Gulf of Mexico Basin is one of the most studied geologic basins in the world, so we know a tremendous amount about it already,” said Meckel, who has been a researcher for over 16 years at the center.

The Port of Corpus Christi is the largest in the nation in terms of total revenue tonnage and is a major exporter of domestically produced energy, with more than 200 tenants and customers. As part of a separate project, on which the center is also an adviser, the port is looking at the feasibility of storing the emissions under port-owned property onshore.

Onshore and off, each proposed carbon capture and storage project has a goal of storing at least 50 million metric tons of CO₂ over a 30-year period, which is about the equivalent of the CO₂ emitted by about 11 million average gasoline-powered vehicles over a year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.