Kleberg County Gears Up for a New Economic Boost with the Launch of a Direct Air Capture Plant. This facility will actively extract carbon emissions from the air. Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid expressed enthusiasm, stating, “We are thrilled about the potential for job opportunities. Furthermore, we’re highly enthusiastic about education and have partnered with A&M-Kingsville for certification processes. Anyone aspiring to work for Oxy should consider coming to Kleberg County.
Kleberg County’s historic King Ranch, encompassing 825,000 acres and recognized as one of the world’s largest ranches, will soon host a major carbon capture hub. This development results from an agreement Madrid inked with 1PointFive.
Robert Hodgen, CEO of King Ranch, believes this venture aligns with the ranch’s longstanding dedication to resource management, commenting, “This is in line with King Ranch’s century-old commitment to natural resource stewardship.”
The lease agreement has allocated 106,000 subsurface acres explicitly for the direct air capture procedure. 1PointFive, the project’s leading entity, was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to facilitate the hub’s creation. Director of Projects Trey Fournier highlights the hub’s innovation: “This facility is designed to capture the small percentage of CO₂ present in the air we breathe and transform it through expansive industrial procedures.”
Kleberg County was chosen for this project over other contenders, largely due to its skilled workforce. Fournier added, “The region boasts numerous transferable skills, especially from sectors like the petrochemical industry.”
Madrid anticipates the project to significantly boost the local economy significantly, bringing in over 2,000 new jobs, from construction roles to operational ones, and unlocking educational prospects. He shared, “We’re eager about the job opportunities and equally passionate about education. We’ve partnered with A&M-Kingsville for certification processes. Those interested in joining Oxy should consider Kleberg County and explore our workforce solutions.”
This will mark Texas’ second such facility. The pioneer direct air capture facility, still under construction, is in Ector County near Odessa. The upcoming hub in Kleberg County boasts an impressive capability: capturing up to 30 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, which equates to the emissions of roughly 6.6 million gasoline-fueled vehicles.
Madrid announced that the project’s groundbreaking is slated for 2024. To minimize traffic within King Ranch, the county is establishing an industrial park in Kleberg County. This park will serve as a park-and-ride spot for employees and an educational training facility.