chevron's global carbon capture, utilization, and storage efforts help lower carbon intensity

4 min read | march 28, 2023

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂), either to prevent it from entering the atmosphere or to directly remove it from the atmosphere, then reusing the captured CO₂in products such as cement or permanently storing that CO₂ underground.

It’s a tool Chevron is deploying to lower the carbon intensity of our existing assets. We are also looking to grow our CCUS business and target third-party emitters as potential partners and customers. We believe deploying CCUS on a large scale is imperative to meeting the world’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

major projects

CCUS can help reduce the carbon intensity of industrial operations and is a critical component of meeting the global greenhouse gas reduction ambitions of the Paris Agreement.

gorgon

Gorgon is one of the world’s largest integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, which has captured more than 7 million tonnes of CO₂ to date. It’s located off the northwest coast of Western Australia on Barrow Island, a nature reserve that is home to more than 2,600 species of subterranean and terrestrial plants and animals.

quest

We are a 20% investor in the Quest CCS project in Alberta, Canada. This project is the world’s first commercial-scale CCS project to address carbon emissions in the Canadian oil sands. After its first year, it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1 million tonnes each year.

proposed projects

We are working together with other entities to develop carbon capture and storage opportunities around the globe, from technology pilots that are underway to proposed CCS projects that are in the early design and permitting stages. This includes working on the projects and with the organizations below to examine everything from capture to transportation to storage options at various sites.

bayou bend

We’re seeking to develop the Bayou Bend Carbon Capture and Storage hub in a joint venture with Talos Energy Inc. and Carbonvert, Inc. The first offshore lease in the United States dedicated to CO₂ storage, the hub will be located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico off the coast of southeast Texas.

eastridge CCS project

At Chevron’s Kern County facility in California, we are planning to store CO₂ deep underground as part of a proposed CCS project that aims to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations in San Joaquin Valley.

emerging opportunities

We are working with organizations and governments around the world to explore CCUS opportunities in various regions.

houston CCS alliance

Industrial facilities in Houston, Texas, make up one of the largest concentrated sources of CO₂ in the United States. More than 10 industry partners, including Chevron, are making plans to capture and store up to 100 million metric tons of CO₂ a year by 2040 from industrial facilities.

australia

We are part of three joint ventures granted an interest by the Australian government in three greenhouse gas assessment permits to explore storing carbon. The three tracts that we are exploring total nearly 7.8 million acres—an area larger than Belgium.

singapore

We’ve joined a new consortium to evaluate and advance the development of large-scale CCUS solutions in Singapore. Together, we’ll research, test and develop technological, logistical and operational solutions for CCUS there.

national research foundation

We are part of a consortium in Singapore aimed at accelerating the development of a carbon capture, utilization, and storage system that can help the country grow a lower carbon economy and meet its goals in the Paris Agreement.

technology pilots and investments

We are piloting technology and investing where it makes sense in order to help accelerate CCUS to advance a lower carbon future.

carbon clean technology pilot

Carbon Clean’s technology is designed to reduce the costs and physical footprint required to capture CO₂. We are testing this technology on a gas turbine in our San Joaquin Valley facility.

kern river

We are testing a project from the U.S. Department of Energy (Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FE0031944) to find ways to reduce the cost of capturing CO₂ from post-combustion gas. We’re partnering with Svante and the National Energy Technology Laboratory on this six-month pilot. Tests will take place at our facility in the San Joaquin Valley in California.

mckittrick

Carbon capture on a commercial scale is key to lowering the carbon intensity of our operations and may help others to lower theirs. We’ve partnered with CarbonPoint Solutions and Carbon Clean on a project that captures CO₂ from our cogeneration plant’s gas turbine in the San Joaquin Valley.

carbon engineering

We invested in British Columbia-based Carbon Engineering's Direct Air Capture technology which removes CO₂ directly from the atmosphere.

blue planet

The “U” in CCUS stands for “utilization.” CO₂ can be used as a raw material for building and other purposes. We invested in Blue Planet Systems, a Los Gatos, California, company that makes rocks from CO₂ to use in place of quarried limestone in building materials. We’re also working with the company to examine possible pilot projects for carbon use.