Texas Tribune / Eddie Seal
The solar units over the Port of Corpus Christi in March 2018.
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Chemical firm Avina Clear Hydrogen Inc. has bought the final out there water provide from the Nueces River of South Texas, elevating considerations of regional shortage as reservoirs dwindle and drought persists.
Avina’s Nueces Inexperienced Ammonia plant plans to separate the hydrogen from water, convert it to ammonia and export it as a high-tech gasoline different to grease and fuel. It’s one among a number of such initiatives at present proposed in Texas, pushed by federal subsidies. Governments and scientists say this know-how performs an essential function within the transition away from fossil fuels.
However officers within the close by metropolis of Corpus Christi have warned that the venture might threaten water provide for greater than 600,000 regional prospects.
“Elevated water drawn solely from the Nueces River system might dramatically enhance the potential for shortage,” wrote Corpus Christi’s director of intergovernmental relations, Ryan Skrobarczyk, in a March 1 memo to state lawmakers, first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Occasions. “A brand new large-volume person of the Nueces River would require intensive and precise monitoring to keep away from elevated drought restrictions.”
Over the past decade, Corpus Christi stretched its water provide to its limits, promoting huge volumes of Nueces River water to a string of main industrial customers, hoping to fulfill the brand new demand with a number of giant desalination vegetation.
However these vegetation nonetheless haven’t materialized. In the meantime, the brand new industrial prospects have ramped up operations whereas a multi-year drought bore down. Native residents have been below water-use restrictions for greater than 600 days as reservoirs have fallen beneath one-third full.
Though Corpus Christi holds rights to the overwhelming majority of Nueces River water, it doesn’t maintain all of them, because it was not too long ago reminded. The one different vital proper belongs to the Nueces County Water Enchancment and Management District #3, which serves the cities of Calallen and Robstown. It has rights from 1909 that had been initially meant to flood crop fields and haven’t been utilized in many years.
That’s the place Avina discovered the means to buy 5.5 million gallons of handled Nueces River water per day—sufficient for all 38,000 residents of Calallen and Robstown to every flush their bogs 90 instances every day—for the subsequent 25 years.
“Do I would like them there? No. However I can’t be biased,” stated Marcos Alaniz, normal supervisor of the Nueces County Water Management and Enchancment District #3 outdoors of Corpus Christi. “I don’t have a proper to inform someone that I can’t feed them water.”
He cited guidelines from the Texas Public Utility Fee that listed 5 the reason why water suppliers could refuse service. Compromising the regional provide wasn’t amongst them.
“It’s simply the truth that we’re pulling extra out of the reservoirs than we’re placing in. However that’s not for me to say,” Alaniz stated.
A spokesperson for Avina in New Jersey, Karen White, stated the corporate “takes critically the water/power nexus and is engineering probably the most water acutely aware plant design, choosing dry cooling, reuse and discount wherever attainable.”
In a March 6 e-mail to Corpus Christi Metropolis Council, Metropolis Supervisor Peter Zanoni warned the Avina venture might enhance water costs to all metropolis water customers.
“The lack of thousands and thousands of gallons of water a day will have an effect on our water provides. To backfill that loss will doubtlessly end in price impacts to all [Corpus Christi Water] prospects,” Zanoni wrote.
The town of Corpus Christi and its water division declined to reply questions.
The hydrogen increase
Avina is one among no less than 30 hydrogen and ammonia initiatives at present proposed in Texas, in line with knowledge from the Environmental Integrity Undertaking, following federal laws that laid out monetary incentives for fossil gasoline options, geared toward decreasing emissions of greenhouse gasses.
“Sooner or later, hydrogen might be used to interchange diesel,” stated Joe Powell, director of the Power Transition Institute on the College of Houston and a former chief scientist at Shell. “I see it as a very good jobs transition alternative for this [Houston] area to be securing its place sooner or later.”
Most of these initiatives produce hydrogen the old style approach, from pure fuel, however incorporate new measures to seize the excessive quantity of carbon emissions and inject them underground for disposal as an alternative of releasing them into the air.
Ten of the initiatives use a technique known as electrolysis that doesn’t straight contain oil or fuel. As a substitute, it makes use of a big quantity of water and an incredible quantity of electrical energy to separate the hydrogen from water molecules. When powered by clear power, the method releases no carbon emissions.
The know-how isn’t new, nevertheless it wasn’t thought of economically possible till the Inflation Discount Act of 2022 laid out steep federal subsidies for hydrogen initiatives.
One such venture in North Texas plans to construct 1.4 gigawatts of wind and solar energy technology and pump 500,000 gallons of groundwater per day to provide 200,000 kilograms of hydrogen for gasoline. One other venture on Matagorda Bay will use water to provide hydrogen for so-called “eFuels.” Avina additionally plans a second electrolysis plant in South Texas to gasoline furnaces for metal manufacturing.
However there’s a hangup. Hydrogen fuel is almost unimaginable to move. It must be liquified at about -500 Fahrenheit then held at that temperature.
So as an alternative, scientists devised another: convert the hydrogen to ammonia (a steady liquid made from hydrogen and nitrogen), ship it abroad then re-convert to hydrogen. It’s an inefficient course of. As much as 40% of the unique power enter is misplaced within the manufacturing, conversion and re-conversion of the hydrogen, stated Hugh Daigle, an affiliate professor of petroleum engineering on the College of Texas who has studied the hydrogen economic system. However, it produces a carbonless gasoline that may energy heavy autos with out dangerous emissions.
“To make one molecule of H2 it takes 1 molecule of water,” Daigle stated.
If developed at scale, he stated, “that’s going to take a variety of water.”
Nueces County ammonia plantThe Avina spokesperson, White, stated the corporate chosen its Nueces County location based mostly on its proximity to renewable power assets (wind farms cowl thousands and thousands of acres in South Texas) and its relay entry to the Port of Corpus Christi.
Federal tax incentives require electrolysis initiatives to run on renewable power, with additional advantages if the power initiatives are new. White stated Avina’s Nueces ammonia plant might be powered by 3.5 gigawatts of latest renewable energy initiatives, however these contracts haven’t been finalized but.
The information of one other water-intensive industrial venture within the area stunned Encarnacion Serna, a retired chemical engineer who spent his profession in native refineries.
“They hold bringing in increasingly more business and there’s no water,” he stated. “It is a horrible catastrophe simply ready to occur.”
Serna, 72, has nothing towards the economic sector. He raised his household whereas working in these vegetation, together with 5 years at ExxonMobil, 15 years at Occidental Chemical and three years at Air Liquide.
However, he stated, it’s gone too far. He listed the latest, main additions to the area’s waterside industrial sector: Cheniere LNG, Voestalpine metal, Chemours chemical substances and a trio of large new oil export terminals, amongst others. One new plastics plant by ExxonMobil and the Saudi Fundamental Industries Corp. has contracts to make use of as much as 25 million gallons of handled water per day.
All this progress was speculated to be supported by the event of a number of new seawater desalination vegetation. However whereas the economic prospects at the moment are working, plans for the desalination vegetation have floundered, mired in years of delays.
“They spent thousands and thousands of {dollars} pushing desalination and all the cash went to legal professionals, allowing and public relations,” Serna stated. “The idiots offered water they didn’t have.”
Avina plans to provide 3.2 billion gallons of ammonia per 12 months on the Nueces County plant, in line with its utility. Serna calculated how a lot hydrogen that will require, and the way a lot water in flip, arising with 9.5 million gallons per day—nearly twice Avina’s contracted water provide.
Alaniz, supervisor of WCID #3, stated Avina will put in groundwater wells to make up the distinction. (The corporate didn’t reply to questions on its whole deliberate water use.)
WCID #3’s 1909 water rights from the Nueces River enable for 10.5 million gallons per day. Initially, that water was meant for crop irrigation, however over time the farm fields changed into neighborhoods, which use a lot much less water. Nonetheless, WCID #3 held onto its rights.
“This might be our first industrial buyer,” Alaniz stated. “Till you’ll be able to work out how we are able to get extra water, it’s in all probability my final.”
Disclosure: Exxon Mobil Company and the College of Houston have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full record of them right here.
This text initially appeared within the Texas Tribune.
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