(The Center Square) – AtmosClear has signed a 15-year deal with ExxonMobil to handle, transport and store biogenic CO2 produced and captured at the company’s planned carbon capture facility at the Port of Baton Rouge.
Beginning in 2029, AtmosClear, a subsidiary of Houston-based Fidelis New Energy, plans to generate renewable baseload power at the Baton Rouge plant using sustainable materials like sugarcane bagasse while capturing 680,000 metric tons of biogenic CO2 annually, which ExxonMobil has agreed to inject more than a mile underground. The biogenic CO2 produced could also be used as a feedstock for low-carbon natural gas or other synthetic fuels, according to AtmosClear.
ExxonMobil’s carbon capture and storage system includes a 1,300-mile CO2 pipeline network, Class VI injection wells, and monitoring systems. “We have a number of permits under review for potential storage sites,” ExxonMobil Media Advisor Margot Armentor said in a release. “We’re in the early stages of determining whether these sites will be suitable CO2 storage locations,” said Armentor.
In April, tech giant Microsoft signed a 15-year agreement with Fidelis AtmosClear for carbon dioxide removal as part of a voluntary commitment the tech giant made to become carbon neutral by 2030. Microsoft has entered into several carbon dioxide removal (CDR) purchase agreements with various companies since 2020. Other technology companies are also pursuing voluntary carbon removal strategies, often with net-zero and carbon-negative goals that rely on buying CDR credits.
Louisiana State University Professor Richard Hughes said Lousiana’s geology is almost perfect for carbon capture and storage. “The way the interaction of the rivers and the Gulf of Mexico has happened over Millenia is we’ve got these thick sands, and the river moves back and forth so that the sands are covered by shale. The shale is kind of an impermeable piece where nothing can move up or down, and the things in the sand just stay there, and we have a sequence of these sand layers from 20,000 feet down almost to the surface,” Hughes said in a YouTube video.
President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” preserved and expanded 45Q tax credits for carbon capture and storage, which were initially established in 2022 by the Inflation Reduction Act. Trump’s bill simultaneously canceled billions in Department of Energy awards to companies developing decarbonization projects, however, as reported by The Center Square.
Fidelis AtmosClear plans to begin construction in 2026 and expects to begin producing baseline power and biogenic CO2 in 2029. The company said it estimates the project will result in over $800 million of investment and approximately 75 permanent and 600 construction jobs. The plant will also support a significant revival of forestry management jobs impacted by mill closures in the area, Fidelis said.
Will Green, president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, said in an op-ed Friday published by Nola.com that there is more than $20 billion in proposed CCS investment across the state.
Louisiana, North Dakota, Wyoming, West Virginia and Arizona are the only states to a have achieved primacy for carbon capture and storage from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which means they have taken over the day-to-day responsibility of issuing permits for Class VI wells, monitoring compliance, and taking enforcement actions when violations occur.
The Louisiana legislature developed carbon capture and storage policies through numerous bills passed during the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions. These actions included legislation clarifying the use of eminent domain for transport of carbon dioxide via pipeline, protected landowners from liability, created a regulatory framework, and set new restrictions in response to industry and community concerns.
