Massive Paper Pulp Mill in Arkansas Aiming to Capture 1.5M Metric Tons of Carbon
One of the nation’s biggest paper pulp mills will install carbon capture and storage targeting up to 1.5 million metric tons of biogenic CO2.
Svante Technologies will develop the CCS project at the Ashdown Pulp Mill facility in Arkansas. Ashdown, owned by Domtar-Paper Excellence, produces close to 775,000 air dry metric tons of pulp annually, according to the parent company.
The project will help deploy Svante’s carbon capture technology for the pulp and paper industry to generate carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits and enhance the sustainability of the industry’s operations. The project has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) for negotiation of a cost-sharing agreement of up to almost $1.5 million.
“The pulp and paper industry represents a unique opportunity for technology and nature to work in tandem to remove CO2 from the atmosphere,” said Claude Letourneau, President & CEO of Svante, in a statement. “Svante's MOF-based carbon capture technology has the potential to revolutionize how industrial facilities manage their emissions, and we are confident that this project will pave the way for wider industry adoption.”
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Paper Excellence in Wood and Svante will partner in conducting a preliminary front end engineering and design study to evaluate post-combustion carbon capture from the recovery boilers’ flue gas at the Ashdown pulp mill.
As the project reaches final investment decision (FID), it could help the mill remove tons of CO2, create new revenue steams through CO2 removal credits and advance CCS technology in the pulp and paper sector. More than 200 pulp and paper production sites generate close to 35 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually, according to federal emissions statistics.
Domtar was acquired by Paper Excellence Group in 2021 and acts as a subsidiary. It manufactures wood pulp and paper products through facilities in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. The facility was shut down for a time but brought back online in 2021.
About a decade ago, Domtar announced it was investing $160 million to convert the Ashdown mill’s paper machine into a fluff pulp line. Fluff pulp is a type of chemical pulp made from fiber softwoods and used in the absorbent core of products such as diapers and other hygiene napkins.
