Hillsborough leaders greenlight carbon capture proposal

Hillsborough County commissioners pushed ahead Wednesday with a proposal for a carbon capture pilot program despite ongoing backlash from local environmental groups.The motion was originally part of the board’s consent agenda, which is intended for decisions that are not considered controversial. But commissioners pulled the measure out for a separate vote. It passed 5-2, with Commissioners Pat Kemp and Harry Cohen dissenting.The move authorizes LowCarbon, a South Korean company that has seen support from Gov. Ron DeSantis , to build a facility that captures carbon dioxide emissions from the county’s waste-to-energy plant in Brandon.Carbon capture is an emerging technology that aims to keep carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, out of the atmosphere. A recent wave of government incentives and lobbying from fossil fuel companies has popularized it as a solution to climate change.LowCarbon’s pilot facility plans to trap 1 ton of carbon dioxide daily. That’s a fraction of the approximate 600 tons emitted every day by the trash-burning plant.County public utilities administrator George Cassady previously told the Tampa Bay Times he was “cautiously optimistic” about the pilot’s success , which could answer lingering questions about the benefits of a permanent facility. Earlier this month , board chairperson Ken Hagan, who proposed the pilot in January, called the pilot a “no-brainer.” It will cost the county nothing and may open a new revenue stream, he argued.One major draw of the facility is its ability to convert carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate, which LowCarbon says is a profitable byproduct. But it’s unknown just how valuable the powder, used in concrete and construction industries, could be. That will be hashed out during the 60-day pilot phase, staff said.LowCarbon is required to sell the calcium carbonate and give those receipts to the county so it can assess how valuable the product is. The county won’t see any revenue from these sales, according to the agreement.At the end of the trial period, commissioners may choose to move forward with a larger, permanent carbon capture facility and will open bids to the company and others like it.Commissioner Kemp, who voted against the pilot, argued that money that may be used in a future carbon capture project should instead go toward affordable housing or solar panels.“We will be asked to do $5, $10 million — who knows how much — in the future,” she said. “This has been opposed by every environmental group we’ve heard from.”Apart from Kemp’s brief comment after Wednesday’s vote, commissioners did not discuss the matter.A permanent facility proposed by LowCarbon and initially rejected by county staff would cost nearly $25 million and capture 40 tons of carbon dioxide, records show. In a revised proposal submitted on March 28, the company offered to build a permanent facility that could capture 100 to 400 tons of carbon.In LowCarbon’s initial proposal for a permanent facility, the company offered to split profits from the sale of calcium carbonate with the county. Because there are no plans beyond the pilot program, it’s unclear how a revenue split would work if the county decides to build this larger facility.During public comment Wednesday morning, Brooke Ward, the senior Florida organizer with Food & Water Watch, implored the board not to move forward with a permanent facility in the future, even though commissioners had already approved the pilot.“It’s a distraction from real solutions,” she told commissioners. “And, frankly, a gross waste of time and money.”Ward and members of other local environmental groups have called the carbon capture technology being proposed a “scam,” saying the county’s efforts would be better spent transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.Now that the county has approved the pilot, Ward said she expects “the proof is going to be in the pudding” and the county will realize its mistake when the project falls short of what LowCarbon has promised.“We’re hoping that when this comes back to the commission in 60 days, it will show itself to be the failed project that it is,” she told the Times.

Hillsborough leaders greenlight carbon capture proposal

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