Carbon Emissions

USA Stationary CO2 Sources

Five Geologic Formations Suitable for CCS

• Carbon emissions are thought to be one of the primary contributors to global warming. 30 billion metric tons of CO2 are emitted globally.  Experts agree that swift and prudent actions must be facilitated.  Part of the solution could be to capture millions of tons of CO2 and store it beneath the earth in the same formations that have contained fossil fuels for millions of years.

About CCS

• Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) captures emissions (aka flue gas) from coal fired power generators and separate the CO2 from the rest of the flue gas by cooling the flue gas and then adding ammonium carbonate.  The captured CO2 is then compressed and injected into the ground between pores that are between grains of porous rock and salt water aquifers for storage.

CCS Benefits

• Reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming
• Job creation
• An environmentally friendly option for coal

Cost

• $60-$180/ton of  CO2 captured & sequestered
• $10-$15/ton of that is for sequestration
• $90/ton credit contingent on approval of pending legislation

Source: DOE

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

• Three decades of CO2 injection experience
• 20-40% additional oil can be recovered
• Three BcF/day  of CO2 going into EOR presently

CO2 Pipelines

• Existing pipeline from W. Colorado to W. Texas
• In 1985 a pipeline was built to connect Sheep Mountain (Colorado), Bravo Dome (N. M.), and McElmo Dome (Colorado) to West Texas.
• Construction underway for a 320 mile pipeline from Louisiana to Houston.

• Saline aquifers – Porous rock saturated with brine
• Depleted reservoirs – Oil & gas formations
• Coal seams – Un-mineable  coal beds
• Shale –  Future opportunity
• Basalts  (volcanic  rock) – Future opportunity
• These formations could hold between 2 and 14 billion tons of CO2 in the United States alone.

Regulatory Issues / UIC Permitting

• Currently permitted as a Class V (Non-Hazardous Injection) experimental well
• In the future will be permitted as Class VI & regulations are under development & are expected to be completed in 2011.
• Regulations will be similar to Class I regulations
• EOR will still be considered as a Class II Permit

Operating CCS Facilities

United States Power Generation Breakdown

The Future of CCS

• The first commercial CCS facility demonstration came online in October of 2009 in West Virginia.  The CCS facility is capturing almost two percent (100, 000 tons) of the 9.5 million tons of CO2 the 1300 MW power plant emits yearly.   A compressor turns the CO2 gas into a liquid at elevated pressures, and then injected into a storage well that is a mile and a half underground.  This facility costs more than $70 million to build.

EOR

• EOR was first used in 1972 in Scurry County near Snyder, Texas.  It has been successfully used for over 30 years in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

• The United States has many mature oil fields and the government is working to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
• Carbon that is stored could increase domestic production in tertiary recovery using EOR.

North American Stationary Carbon Emissions

Source: EIA

Cap and Trade

• Will force large carbon emitters to capture and sequester their carbon.
• If passed the government will set a cap or a ceiling on the amount of carbon a facility can emit.  If the facility’s cap is exceeded the facility must purchase carbon credits from a more environmentally responsible facility.

  $2.4 Billion in Government Funding

• The DOE is pumping this money for the research, training and development in order for CCS to become commercially viable
• $800 million for the clean coal power initiative to help coal fired power plants reduce emissions
• $1.5 billion for industrial emitters such as chemical and cement plants to help reduce their emissions
• $50 million to help characterize the geology of suitable CCS locations
• $20 million is used for training