California County Approves Underground Carbon Storage Project

California’s Kern County approves the state’s first project that will attempt to bury climate-warming gases underground in an effort to limit the amount of emissions that go into the air, according to an article from CALmatters.

“The project by California Resources Corp., the state’s largest producer of oil and gas, will capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide and inject it into the ground in the western San Joaquin Valley south of Buttonwillow,” the article explains. “California Resources Corp. plans to annually collect 1.46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and inject it into the ground more than a mile deep into the Monterey Formation, a vast geological structure that has long been a key source of California’s oil.”

The site in the San Joaquin Valley was selected partly due to the presence of the depleted Elk Hills oil and gas field, which could be an ideal carbon storage solution. The project, known as Carbon Terra Vault, is one way oil and gas companies are fighting to stay relevant and viable as the state works toward a zero-emissions future. “The Newsom administration has endorsed carbon capture and sequestration technology as critical to California’s efforts to tackle climate change — it plays a major role in the administration’s action plan for slashing greenhouse gases over the next 20 years.”

In a public meeting, local activists expressed concern about the project’s potential to contaminate the surrounding area. “They say the technology could prolong the life of oil and gas and that the project would emit air pollutants that could pose health risks to low-income communities in the valley.”