ExxonMobil plans blue hydrogen hub at Texas
The project can play a part in achieving America’s lower-emissions aspirations.
ExxonMobil plans a hydrogen production plant and carbon capture and storage projects at its integrated refining and petrochemical site at Baytown, Texas, US.
The proposed hydrogen facility would produce up to 1 billion cubic feet/day of blue hydrogen, produced from natural gas and supported by carbon capture and storage. The carbon capture infrastructure for this project would have the capacity to transport and store up to 10 million tonnes of CO2/year, more than doubling ExxonMobil’s current capacity.
Using hydrogen as a fuel at the Baytown olefins plant could reduce the integrated complex’s Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by up to 30%, supporting ExxonMobil’s ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its operating assets by 2050.
It also would enable the site to manufacture lower-emissions products for its customers. Access to surplus hydrogen and CO2 storage capacity would be made available to the industry.
The project would support the company’s efforts to establish a Houston carbon capture and storage hub with an initial target of about 50 million tonnes of CO2/year by 2030 and 100 million tonnes/year by 2040.
ExxonMobil has extensive experience with hydrogen and already produces about 1.5 billion cubic feet/day.
Joe Blommaert, President of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, said, “Hydrogen has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in vital sectors of the economy and create valuable, lower-emissions products that support modern life.”
Last month, it also made a final investment decision to expand carbon capture and storage at its LaBarge, Wyoming, facility, which has captured more CO2 than any other facility in the world to date. The expansion project will capture up to 1.2 million tonnes of CO2, in addition to the 6-7 million tonnes captured at LaBarge annually.
