Elon Musk plans to use Texas natural gas for its star exchanges

Photographer: Austin Barnard / Bloomberg

Elon Musk became the richest man in the world thanks to his enthusiasm for Tesla Inc. ‘s sleek electric cars – and the company’s stratospheric share price. But while Musk may be the most well-known CEO of clean energy, SpaceX, his other company, is likely relying on natural gas drilling to power Starship, the new spacecraft and rocket designed to take people to the moon, Mars and beyond. transport.

Musk’s SpaceX intends to use a site in South Texas to send rockets to transport humans and cargo to the moon and Mars. To do so, the company plans to drill gas wells to make its own fuel and electricity, according to a document from the Federal Aviation Administration seen by Bloomberg.

Musk has long mocked the oil industry, pointing to renewable energy and electric vehicles as the key to averting a climate catastrophe. But the FAA document and SpaceX’s comments to Texas regulators show how some of its goals will depend, at least in the short term, on plans to exploit fossil fuels that are already criticizing environmental groups.

While Musk said he ultimately intends to extract carbon from the atmosphere to produce fuel, a cost-effective method has not yet been developed. The billionaire donates $ 100 million for a award for “best carbon capture technology.”

According to the FAA document, the SpaceX site in Texas is supplied by at least five nearby gas wells along with two gas power stations. Purified gas from the wells will be pumped into refrigeration equipment which converts it into liquid methane, the document shows. The methane can be combined with liquid oxygen and other compounds to make rocket fuel.

SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment. But in a trial last week with the The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state, said the company’s attorneys used gas from the wells for a “rocket facility operation.”

An FAA spokesman said the document Bloomberg saw was an incomplete draft environmental review. A public comment period ending last week will be used to complete the official draft review. Once completed, the draft will be posted on the agency’s website for another round of public comment.

The company is also seeking permission from the FAA to add a gas treatment plant and equipment that will convert the methane to its liquid form, and plans to expand a nearby solar farm and build a water desalination plant, the agency said. .

SpaceX originally built the coastal yard for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which are used to deploy satellites, but never used them for that purpose. The company is now seeking permission to use it as a launch site for spacecraft that will transport people and cargo to the moon and mars.

Vertically integrated

One possible motivation for SpaceX’s plans to produce gas: vertical integration. Musk has been a long-time supporter of the strategy, which he uses to control the supply chains of his companies. By drilling for gas, SpaceX would avoid paying a third party to manufacture it and lead it to the launch site.

Depending on the ratios of liquid-oxygen-to-liquid methane fuel, a single launch would require tens of millions of cubic feet of gas.

Even without taking into account the need for gas to fuel SpaceX’s Texas power plants, about ten billion launches a year would require about half a billion cubic feet. It would cost about $ 1.37 million, based on the current benchmark for gas futures trading in New York.

To secure the gas, SpaceX launched a subsidiary called Lone Star Mineral Development in June. The company wasted no time buying up mineral rights in the area, as well as an 806-acre lease originally born by the Houston oil company Sanchez Energy, which renamed itself Mesquite Energy after emerging from bankruptcy last year.

However, it is not clear how much guest Lone Star will be able to fetch from the site. Cameron County, where the launch site is located, is not a productive source of fuel. The Sanchez lease, which went into production in 2011, produced about 536 million cubic feet of gas during the first year, the rail commission said. But after that, production continued to decline until the well, which was taken out of service in March 2014.

Geology is not the only obstacle to SpaceX’s gas production plans. The company faces legal challenges for a piece of land that forms a small corner of the drill lease. Producer now being held Dallas Petroleum Group LLC says it has paid property taxes on two wells there and is asking the Railway Commission to resolve a dispute over control of the wells with Lone Star. It had previously sued Sanchez over access to the wells, and changed the case Friday to add SpaceX and Lone Star as defendants.

Lone Star also bought two foreign rigs from drilling contractor Valaris Plc last year. They will likely be used as landing pads for SpaceX’s reusable rockets.

Environmental opposition

A coalition of a dozen environmental groups is already sounding the alarm about SpaceX’s expansion plans. According to the coalition, the rocket launch site went far beyond the original permit, and the company’s plans threaten an environmentally sensitive wildlife corridor along the U.S.-Mexico border.

At the launch site last year, “there were at least three explosions, some of which led to more fires burning smaller areas,” of EJ Williams, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy, in an email. “These explosions have a direct impact on the designated critical habitat used by federal and other declining species.”

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More traffic on the highway leading to the launch site has dramatically increased the number of animals killed by vehicles. According to David Newstead, a director of bird conservation, biologists have prevented biologists from studying endangered migratory species nearby. projects for the Corpus Christi-based Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries program.

The FAA originally allowed SpaceX for 12 launches a year and 180 hours of road closure, but Newstead said its group documented more than 1,100 hours of highway closures last year.

Because of the changes to SpaceX’s plans for the Texas site, environmental groups want the FAA to use a stricter and more transparent process to review the company’s proposals. For example, the The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires businesses wishing to build new gas pipelines or export terminals to submit regular public updates, while the FAA does not require the same disclosure, said Patrick Anderson, chairman of the Sierra Club’s chapter in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. .

Although SpaceX seeks permission to produce gas in the short term, the Texas launch site could eventually promote Musk’s carbon-free agent ambitions. Gas drilling could potentially be part of gaining long-term experience using resources in situ, or ISRU, using it to generate products using local materials. Although there are no fossil fuels on Mars, those landing there may have to drill for water or minerals.

Musk can also use drilling to gain experience in developing carbon dioxide storage wells. SpaceX will likely have to use carbon capture on Mars to make fuel for the journey back home, making it important to get the technology right.

Historically, liquid hydrogen was the fuel chosen for early space missions, while a rocket full of petroleum and liquid oxygen sent Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins to the moon.