Louisiana Lands Huge Energy Project; Jobs & Money on the Way

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Louisiana and the energy industry go together like peanut butter and jelly.  It's hard to imagine one without the other because our state has so many natural resources and the process of getting it and converting it to a useable form provides so many jobs and much needed economical growth for us.

Now that a great deal of focus in that industry is on renewable and "clean" energy options, Louisiana looks poised to take advantage of that as well.

Louisiana will be the home of the largest clean-energy project in the world

Yesterday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Air Products announced that a massive, $4.5 billion complex will be built in Ascension Parish.  The sprawling facility will use natural gas and "captured carbon" (taken from emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants), and combine them to create "blue hydrogen."  This new, clean-burning fuel can be used to make electricity, power vehicles, and to heat homes and offices.

The new plant will produce more than energy, it's going to bring thousands of new jobs

According to the report from the Advertiser, this huge project will bring around 2,000 construction jobs and 170 direct permanent jobs with a whopping $15.9 million annual payroll.  That's an average salary of $93,529 per year!

The entire world will benefit from the energy produced here

If you thought that the energy produced here would benefit Louisiana, you're right - but you're not thinking big enough.  The hydrogen made at this location has global implications.  When the plant becomes fully operational (in the year 2026), the plan is to ship it out both nationally and internationally.  That means this plant will be working around the clock to provide energy for the far reaches of the globe - and that means those jobs we were talking about earlier will most likely come with a bunch of overtime!

This move will also bring Louisiana in line with "Net Zero"

This literal clean-energy powerhouse will help bring our state closer to the goal set by Governor Edwards when he committed Louisiana to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to "Net Zero" by the year 2050.  According to National Grid, "Net Zero" is simply achieving a balance "between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere."