CERC hosts third Carbon Management and Energy Innovation Technical Symposium

Around 180 experts gathered for annual event

By California State University, Bakersfield

April 24^th, 2024

The California Energy Research Center (CERC) at California State University, Bakersfield once again welcomed experts from academia, industry and regulating agencies for its third annual Carbon Management and Energy Innovation Technical Symposium.

Around 180 people gathered in the CSUB Student Recreation Center gymnasium on April 12 for the symposium, which was organized by CERC partnered with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF), with Chevron as the presenting sponsor. The symposium offered a platform for experts to talk about the challenges and opportunities that carbon management and the energy transition bring to Kern County.

Carbon management, renewable energy technology and reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide (CO2) are important tools in facing the ongoing climate crisis. Topics at the symposium included the costs and benefits of carbon removal, the challenges of hydrogen storage, gas transport from source to storage, community benefit plans, risk assessments for underground storage and carbon mineralization.

Dr. Liaosha Song — director of the California Well Sample Repository at CSUB and an associate professor of geology — kicked off the symposium by welcoming those in attendance.

“It is my privilege to stand before you today at the forefront of discussions that are pivotal not only to our community but also to the broader landscape of energy innovation in California and beyond,” Dr. Song told the crowd. “Over the past several years, we have witnessed an exponential growth in new products focusing on carbon removal and sustainable energy solutions. The search of innovation is a testament to the hard work and dedication of people within our field, many of which are in this room with us today.”

CERC hosts third Carbon Management and Energy Innovation Technical Symposium

Following additional remarks from Dr. Jane Dong — dean of CSUB’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering — and Dr. Vernon B. Harper, Jr., interim president of CSUB, presentations began with a keynote session from Dr. Jennifer Pett-Ridge of LLNL.

Dr. Pett-Ridge opened her talk, titled “Roads to Removal: A Comprehensive Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Removal Options in the United States,” by explaining the demand for carbon dioxide removal and carbon management overall.

“We have a climate that is changing in really a dramatic and frightening way,” she said. “It’s not fun to have to start with the negative, but the reality is that even locally here in Bakersfield, we’re looking at temperature rises that are just not humanly sustainable, much less comfortable, in the next 50 years. We’re looking at increased fire risk.”

It is easy to think of climate change as a global problem, Dr. Pett-Ridge said, “but the solutions are right here.”

Dr. Pett-Ridge went into detail about the “Road to Removal” report the LLNL team produced with funding from the Department of Energy to assess how to get the United States on track for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It identified four key methods for reaching that goal: increasing forests and improving forest management practices; improving soil management on croplands; capturing CO2 in biomass and converting the biomass to form new products and prevent CO2 release (also referred to as BiCRS, or biomass carbon removal and storage); and capturing CO2 directly from the air using direct air capture (DAC) machines paired with renewable energy.

The Central Valley is a particularly good place for geologic storage, Dr. Pett-Ridge said, explaining the process of taking CO2 from the air and storing it far below the earth’s surface. Because of the region’s oil industry, there is already the know-how and the workforce to easily adapt to this work of “forever storage.”

“You’re a step ahead because of your natural resources, because of your decades of expertise … but with that step ahead comes a responsibility to do this safely, to bring your surrounding communities along, to make sure that good jobs and sustainable jobs are created into the future, and that we remove CO2 at a massive scale,” she said. “That’s what our planet needs, and I think that’s what you can deliver.”

Following Dr. Pett-Ridge’s talk was a panel called “Storage Underground: Innovations, Challenges and Opportunities” with Rob Trautz of Electric Power Research Institute, Mike Umbro of Premier Resource Management and CSUB’s own Dr. Matt Herman, assistant professor of geology. Moderator Lisa Alpert of Aera Energy opened with a question on specific opportunities for carbon capture sequestration (CCS) in Kern County.

“I’m very bullish on CO2 storage,” Trautz said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity here. You’ve got the resources — the geological resource, the workforce that’s here because you have been doing oil production and natural gas production for a hundred years. This area is prime to take on the challenge of CO2 sequestration in California.”

Seismologist Dr. Herman was asked about the potential of carbon sequestration causing earthquakes, a common concern people might have about the practice, particularly in California.

“The question is, ‘Are we going to induce seismicity if we store carbon dioxide in the ground?’” Dr. Herman said. “I don’t know the answers to these questions, but we can figure out the answers to those questions. Part of it is making sure that we’re observing the natural systems very well. I’m fairly optimistic that we can take steps to mitigate those potential hazards.”

Asked about biggest obstacles for carbon sequestration, Umbro pointed to the slow speed from project conception to permitting, which includes educating the public and policymakers. Trautz and Dr. Herman agreed about the importance of community buy-in.

“Engagement from the community and getting them involved at the early stages is very important,” Trautz said. “We’re definitely going to have to get the public engaged in a meaningful way.”

Mike Umbro, Dr. Matt Herman and Rob Trautz share their insights during a panel called "Storage Underground: Innovations, Challenges and Opportunities."

The day continued with more panels and presentations into the afternoon. During breaks, attendees also had the chance to visit with CSUB students sharing their own research.

Dr. Dong was pleased with the event’s turnout and rich conversations among the participants. She said a major takeaway she heard from many participants was that net-zero is possible but requires collaborative and intentional efforts that use diverse technologies across many realms. She was also excited to learn about initiatives that local industries are undertaking to contribute to a more sustainable environment.

“The event was a great success,” she said. “As the host we are excited that the symposium facilitated knowledge sharing and insightful conversations toward the future directions in energy evolution and cultivated opportunities to forge new partnerships.”

Preston Jordon of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab moderates a panel on "DAC Hubs: Innovative Energy Solutions," with panelists Jonathan Dethloff of Aera Energy, Louise Bedsworth of UC Berkeley, Alexei Vyssotski of Chevron New Energies and Ken Haney of CRC.

Ann Rogan of Edge Collaborative gives a presentation called "Building Together: Advancing Community Benefits in California."

Melinda Palmer of Kern Energy and Meghan Kenny of CarbonCapture Inc. are panelists in "Energy Innovations and Decarbonization: Internal and External Company Strategies."

Brian Schmidt of LLNL presents "Carbon Mineralization in California."

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Footnotes

Story by Kelly Ardis, communications specialist, School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME); Photos by Shelby Parker, Marketing and Communications Specialist, and Abel Núñez-Guerrero, Outreach & Community College Coordinator for NSME