PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Power City leaders are now armed with new knowledge to prepare for the future.
Dozens of people attended the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce's Emerging Energy Conference at the Bob Bowers Civic Center on Thursday, October 17.
At the conference, panelists talked about how to make the oil and gas industry cleaner and more efficient.
The entire conference focused on using cleaner technologies that will benefit Southeast Texans for generations to come.
"Consumers around the world are expecting a lower carbon emissions profile," said Texas Oil & Gas Association President Todd Staples.
If Southeast Texas industry wants to compete on a global scale they'll need to find more affordable and cleaner energy options.
"Our energy needs, our electricity needs needs, are going to grow substantially in the years, and the future. And so you can produce electricity more efficiently if you capture the carbon. And carbon capture and storage technology can capture about 90% of those emissions," said Staples.
Staples says companies want to turn Southeast Texas into a carbon capture mecca.
"Not only do you have geologic formations, but you have roadways, you have ports, you have infrastructure, and pipelines, you have electricity, and energy. You have a skilled workforce, you have universities that are second to none. And you have a can do attitude," Staples said.
Carbon capture is when CO2 emissions get captured and compressed, then, they're injected thousands of feet under ground.
There are several carbon capture projects proposed for this region. There's also other technology to consider.
"We talked about hydrogen. Talked about carbon capture sequestration, talked about circularity chemical recycling. All of those different things. Renewables obviously. Wind, solar, etc. and basically this idea that we have to think about how those work, and where those work together," said Charles Franklin, the Senior Director of energy, climate and environment for the American Chemistry Council.
For students like Andres Giner, a chemical engineering major at Lamar University, it's eye-opening.
"I like the new technology, I like how it's clean. And I also like how much energy you can actually produce from it and how rich it is," said Giner.
Industry leaders also discussed hydrogen and ammonia and the role they can play as the fuel sources of the future.
The Port Arthur Chamber says it was happy to bring everyone together, to get excited about the technology of tomorrow.