CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Port of Corpus Christi about announced a partnership that will produce the region's first carbon neutral hydrogen production facility.
Port officials said they'll join Howard Energy Partners in converting their Javelina Plant near Up River Road. It's a facility that has pipeline connections to all six of our local refineries.
The new plan involves capturing carbon emissions while producing hydrogen, rather than releasing them into the atmosphere.
The move is partly in response to a United Nations climate change report issued earlier this month, calling for the elimination of all carbon emissions by 2050.
"I think most folks are familiar now with carbon dioxide's role in global warming," Jeff Pollack, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer with the Port of CC said. "It traps heat in the atmosphere and effectively contributes to the warming of the planet. So, in this case and for this project, we are talking about Howard capturing that free carbon and then finding a way to either use it or permanently store it, to avoid emitting it into the atmosphere."
Meanwhile, the carbon neutral hydrogen can be exported around the world as a clean energy solution. It's something Pollack said is the next step in their evolution as the Energy Port of the Americas.
"We've heard announcements from a number of countries around the world, saying that they are setting very ambitious targets for incorporating hydrogen into their energy productions," he said. "Japan being the latest and so, we know there's going to be a tremendous global market for hydrogen exports."
According to Pollack, this could put the Port on the road to becoming the nation's premier hub for carbon management.