Our Future Flows Through Pipelines

New carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipelines and underground storage will help us achieve climate goals and sustain Texas jobs.

CO₂ Pipelines and Underground Storage Will Support Texas' Energy Future

Reducing carbon emissions will help sustain energy and industrial jobs that are so important to the Texas economy.
Capturing carbon emissions before they are released into the air and permanently storing them will both help the environment and help critical industries meet climate targets, sustaining jobs and the Texas economy during the energy transition.
Texas can lead the energy transition and develop a new lower-carbon economy. According to the 2019 National Petroleum Council (NPC) CCS report, Meeting the Dual Challenge, jobs associated with CCS investment in the U.S. could grow from about 10,000 per year initially, to more than 200,000 per year by 2050.
But here’s the challenge: The places where CO₂ emissions are produced and captured may be located some distance away from available Gulf Coast storage locations.
The solution is building new pipelines to safely transport the carbon emissions from the sources to the storage areas, which will create new jobs at the same time.

What Is Carbon Capture and Storage? Why Do We Need It?

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a colorless, odorless gas and is everywhere. Humans exhale it. Plants live on it. It gives soft drinks their fizz. In addition to it being a naturally occurring gas, it is also created when we burn oil or natural gas to generate electricity or power manufacturing plants.

CO₂ plays an important role in the atmosphere. It helps trap the sun’s heat, warming our planet and protecting it from the frigid temperatures of outer space. However, too much CO₂ in the atmosphere traps too much heat and risks raising the earth’s temperature.

Many things we need produce CO₂ including cars, planes, agricultural equipment, and the manufacturing of countless daily essentials and building materials such as steel and concrete. Unfortunately, as the world works to limit the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere, we will either need to reduce the amount of CO₂ these activities produce, or we will have to limit these activities. However, if we capture CO₂ at the manufacturing site before it is released to the atmosphere, we can continue to benefit from activities and products that produce CO₂, while meeting climate goals.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, is a process that will allow Texas' industries that emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) to both maintain operations and reduce CO₂ emissions by using special equipment to remove the CO₂ from their facilities' exhaust before it reaches the air. Once captured, the CO₂ can be transported by pipeline to an underground storage area designated by the government for safe and permanent storage. The same type of solid layers of rock that have kept oil and natural gas locked underground for millions of years can safely store CO₂.

To help develop their CCS systems, companies that produce CO₂ are working with oil and natural gas companies since they are experts at transporting and storing gases. These systems will require building carbon capture equipment at the source, pipelines to carry the captured carbon away from the source and wells to inject the CO₂ safely and permanently underground.

Benefits of CCS

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Carbon capture and storage projects will support the well-paying jobs at manufacturing facilities that produce carbon dioxide (CO₂). By reducing their carbon footprint, CCS will allow these companies to continue operations as well as use available, affordable and reliable sources of energy. In addition, building CCS projects will create new, well-paying construction jobs and generate tax revenue for use at the state and local levels.

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The International Energy Agency has concluded that important climate goals will be virtually impossible without CCS. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also has observed that the cost of reaching these goals will be considerably higher without CCS. Excluding CCS from our climate toolkit not only would result in significant increases in the cost of achieving overall emissions reductions but would also pose a risk that the climate goals may not be met.

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An even greater benefit is that by capturing the CO₂ produced before it reaches the air, companies will enhance the sustainability of their manufacturing processes and contribute to the state and country’s ability to achieve their climate goals.

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For individuals, CCS will mean the ability to maintain today’s lifestyle, which is heavily derived from oil and natural gas, because energy production and the products we enjoy can be significantly decarbonized.

Hear from Community Leaders

We want our communities to have educational resources to learn more about CO₂ and the need for an expanded pipeline network. We also want the first responders in our communities to be prepared with emergency response tactics needed to address CO₂-specific hazards. That’s one reason why we sponsor the participation of local and regional emergency responders in programs such as the Hazmat Liquid & CO₂ Pipeline and Industrial Fire Emergency Response trainings with Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).

Learn more about TEEX

CO₂ Fact Sheets

CO₂ Pipelines - Part of our Clean Energy Future

CO₂ Underground Storage Safety

CO₂ Pipeline Safety

CO₂ Pipeline Regulation

See All Resources

Breaking Down the Process

Capturing, transporting and safely storing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is a proven process that will create a new Texas industry, help sustain jobs in the state's industries that produce CO₂ and help the state meet its climate goals. Learn more about each element of the CCS process.

Capture

Transportation

Storage

If you have any questions, please contact our team directly using the link below or calling our project representative.

Justin Stegall, Community Engagement Lead
justin.stegall@exxonmobil.com

888-804-4788