Biomass Carbon Capture Project Canceled in California’s Central Valley

Last week the EPA ordered San Joaquin Renewables to either withdraw its carbon dioxide injection permit or face cancelation because of discrepancies between the company’s EPA application and how the company described the project in its local land use application.

Residents and environmental advocates fighting the project learned Thursday that the company had pulled both its EPA permit and the city of McFarland land use permit for the proposed project. With no applications left, this marks the end of the project that was first proposed to regulators in 2021.

San Joaquin Renewables told the EPA that it planned to inject up to 1,200 tons per day of carbon dioxide waste under its property, located just two miles from McFarland. Modeling showed the injected carbon dioxide impact area stretched far beyond the injection site, even reaching into the nearby town of Delano.

Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, compresses carbon dioxide, turning it into an asphyxiant. A leak can harm and even suffocate people and animals, even those far away from the leak.

The project also proposed relying on a new gas-fired power plant to supply its operations. McFarland, as with much of California’s Central Valley, has some of the worst air quality in the country.

This withdrawal marks the second time a CCS company has wasted government resources by submitting a deficient permit application. In April 2022, Clean Energy Systems withdrew their carbon injection permit application with the EPA after the agency ordered it to do so.