LSU first to offer carbon capture

LSU announced in January that it had become the first university in the U.S. to offer a formal concentration in carbon capture, utilization and storage - a technology lauded by state and industry leaders despite controversy on the public's eye - through its petroleum engineering department. Carbon capture and sequestration is a process in which carbon output from a plant is captured, compressed and sent via pipeline deep underground to be stored, rather than emitted into the air. The technology has grown in popularity since Congress approved $3.5B to support carbon capture and sequestration projects in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Louisiana has become a hotbed for these projects due to geological conditions and pre-existing industrial infrastructure and expertise, according to Karsten Thompson, chair of the LSU Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering. “This is an emerging field that we believe is going to be really big,” Thompson said. In LSU’s concentration, students can take classes in underground geological storage, natural gas engineering and geophysics in addition to the typical curriculum, like drilling technology and reservoir simulation. Thompson explained that many of the skills learned in the department transfer easily over to carbon capture projects. (NOLA.come 02/25/23) LSU offers first carbon capture concentration in U.S. | Education | nola.com