Nacero
Nacero, Inc. is a Houston-based company founded in 2015 by Tom Tureen and Jay McKenna. Tureen is an attorney who has primarily worked with Native American tribes on land acquisition and investment consulting. McKenna has worked on natural gas storage and carbon capture investments at multiple investment firms including Goldman Sachs. The company touts itself as providing cleaner gasoline using “renewable” natural gas and carbon capture.
In October 2021, the company Nacero and local elected officials announced plans to build a massive gas-to-liquids refinery that would turn fracked shale gas into synthetic gasoline.
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No Commitment to Local Hiring
Nacero and project supporters claim that the refinery will create thousands of jobs. However, the vast majority of these would be temporary construction jobs and the company’s website says that only 300 permanent jobs would be created. Nacero has not committed to hiring local workers to fill these positions.
In July 2020, PA Governor Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill (HB) 732, which would allow petrochemical plants to receive a maximum of $6.6 million in tax breaks each year for up to 25 years.
In order to qualify for this tax break the company must:
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Invest $400 million or more into a new facility in Pennsylvania
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Create an aggregate of 800 jobs during construction and/or operation
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Pay prevailing wages and benefits for the jobs created
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Purchase and use dry natural gas produced in Pennsylvania
This means that the Nacero project will receive this state tax break over a 25 year period.
In most cases, to improve the long-term profitability of GTL plants, developers have reconfigured the plants to produce waxes and lubricating products. These are another bi-product of the process and can be used in producing candles, paints,coatings, resins, and plastics.
A study published by David Ramberg in 2017 states that “with carbon constraints, large-scale deployment of GTL is not economical.” The study further states that it will become less viable with the expanded use of electric vehicles and biofuels when there are more robust carbon emission restrictions in place due to climate change.