Country's first carbon capture plant opens in San Joaquin County
TRACY - The first commercial carbon capture plant in the entire country is set to open in San Joaquin County.
The facility will take carbon dioxide from the air and seal the gas permanently in crushed limestone in Tracy.
The goal is to absorb 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, which is the same amount of exhaust from about 200 cars. By 2035, the company, Heirloom, aims to remove 1 billion tons of CO2.
Officials say removing that much CO2 from the atmosphere could have positive effects beyond California.
"Carbon dioxide is a diffuse gas that gets pulled everywhere, it collects everywhere in the atmosphere," said Alexa Dennett, the head of marketing and communications at Heriloom. "So what's happening here in Tracy will have a positive benefit on the whole world."
The U.S. Secretary of Energy took a tour of the facility on Thursday, calling it another jewel in California's crown of clean energy.
Heirloom says it will deliver net removals to early, catalytic buyers of its carbon dioxide removal credits. This includes Microsoft, Stripe, Shopify and Klarna.
The department is hoping to open more facilities like this to fight climate change nationwide.