The Hydrogen Energy California, HECA project, is proposed for Kern County near the Occidental (Oxy) oil fields in Elk Hills near Taft. It is to be on 400 acres of land about 5 miles due north of Oxy Elk Hills. The HECA project is a joint venture between BP Alternative Energy and Rio Tinto and is more traditional only in that it will burn fuel to drive gas turbine generators. It will have an output of 250 net megawatts of electricity; enough to power 150,000 homes according to the HECA website. The reliable output of a medium sized California power plant. It's a slightly higher output than the Wildflower Green Energy Farm project and, at 400 acres, requires a fraction of the land.
Instead of carbon-based natural gas for fuel, the HECA turbines will use hydrogen. The process starts with the gasification of petroleum coke, a by-product of oil refining, and coal. The carbon monoxide emissions, instead of being pumped into the atmosphere, will be captured, processed with steam, from non-potable water, to create hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). Hydrogen fuels the gas turbines and CO2 is pumped deep underground for Enhanced Oil Recovery.
According to Jordan Feilder at the HECA information line, brackish water will supply the project. He says Kern County, to prevent future damage to farming, is seeking to extract the brackish water from the ground but is unable to treat it. HECA provides Kern with a means to properly use this liability.
When burned, hydrogen, H, is combined with oxygen, O to form H2O. Water is the only exhaust from the burning of hydrogen which burns hotter than any other fuel used today. The heat makes hydrogen not only the ultimate fuel but the ultimate clean fuel because we can safely breathe and drink the by-product.
According to an Oxy video, Enhanced Oil Recovery, or EOR, has been used for over 30 years to increase the output of mature oil wells. CO2 is pumped into the ground where it displaces previously unrecoverable oil; allowing the oil to be extracted where it couldn't before. The CO2 in theory remains trapped underground where it can't escape into the atmosphere. This is not a new technology so it has a proven track-record according to Oxy.
It's very complicated but the end result is more electricity for the grid, which is desperately needed, and increased domestic oil supply. There are some carbon emissions but it is supposedly 90% less than power generation using traditional fuels. Watch the video below from the HECA website (abridged to focus on this fascinating process).
Feilder says the project, at the earliest, could break ground in under 2 years.
