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SARITA — The U.S. Department of Energy is investing $1.2 billion to develop the nation’s first two commercial-scale direct air capture facilities here in South Texas, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez said in a news release.
The direct air capture facility in Kleberg County is designed to remove approximately 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the world’s first facility designed with this capacity, according to Gonzalez, whose district includes Cameron, Kenedy, Kleberg, and Willacy counties and eastern Hidalgo County.
The facility’s construction, maintenance and operation will also create approximately 2,500 new jobs for the surrounding area and has existing agreements to ensure local hiring, the release stated.
As part of the plan, one facility to be built in Kleberg County is slated to receive up to $600 million for its development.
The program is part of the Biden administration’s Direct Air Capture Hubs Program, creating a national network of carbon-removing facilities.
Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Gonzalez helped shepherd through the House of Representatives in 2021, DAC facilities will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground or convert it into carbon-containing products, like concrete.
“Cutting back on our carbon emissions alone won’t reverse the growing impacts of climate change; we also need to remove the CO2 that we’ve already put in the atmosphere — which nearly every climate model makes clear is essential to achieving a net-zero global economy by 2050,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated. “With this once-in-a-generation investment made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is laying the foundation for a direct air capture industry crucial to tackling climate change — transforming local economies and delivering healthier communities along the way.”
Gonzalez highlighted Kleberg County’s role in removing carbon emissions “straight from our atmosphere,” and credited the “federal investment in our community and public-private partnerships.”
“This consequential technology is not only critical in our fight against CO2 emissions, extreme weather, and the associated environmental risks to public safety and health — it also provides South Texas a direct role in improving our community and our planet’s future,” Gonzalez added. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these facilities will eventually be in towns and cities across the country. I am proud South Texas will host one of the first operations of this kind, leading the way to a better future as we are meant to.”
Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid expressed excitement for his community and that the county would work with energy orgs and companies 1PointFive and OXY as well as the King Ranch for the South Texas Direct Air Capture Hub.
“The benefits that this project will bring to our region and the entire world are amazing,” Madrid said in the release.
