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Indiana could be leader in ‘fastest-growing sector of the economy’ with hydrogen separation technology

Indiana could be a leader in the “fastest-growing sector of the economy,” an oil company executive told a gathering of Northwest Indiana civic leaders Thursday.

Damian Bilbao, a vice president for BP, told Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission members that BP has the capability to separate hydrogen — a clean-burning fuel, creating only water as a byproduct — from natural gas, and then “sequester” the resulting global-warming carbon dioxide by pumping it deep underground.

“We believe the potential market for hydrogen will quadruple by 2050,” Bilbao told the city, town and county government officials from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties that comprise NIRPC’s board.

He said Indiana’s advantages include sites deep underground — more than 4,000 feet deep, far below underground water sources — that could store carbon dioxide “forever.”

The state also has provided “legal clarity and supportive policy” for carbon sequestration, Bilbao said, without detailing what those policies are.

When asked if there would be a danger from pumping CO2 deep underground, he said the process would not harm underground rock formations, unlike the process of “fracking,” or fracturing, rock to find oil and natural gas.

Bilbao noted that BP has not yet committed to the hydrogen separation and carbon sequestration program.

“In the next three years,” he said, “we’ll have to make the economic decision whether we’re moving forward” on that project. “A lot of work needs to be done.”

“The biggest objection to carbon capture,” he added, “is that it extends the life of the oil and gas industry.”

But, he said, “there’s no way to achieve CO2 (reduction) goals without carbon capture.”

Also Thursday, NIRPC members gave final approval to the commission’s updated long-range plan, called NWI 2050+, and to NIRPC’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the coming four years.

The U.S. Department of Transportation requires NIRPC to update its long-range plan every four years.

NIRPC said the plan “guides the use of the over $100 million in federal funding that is spent annually on transportation projects in Northwest Indiana.”

The updated 539-page plan includes chapters on the changing environment, the expected increase in freight traffic, and the expected need to develop 50,000 more housing units in the next 30 years, as well as road and transit needs.

Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.