Montana State University received the go-ahead on July 26 for an eight-year, $85 million project –including $67 million in federal funds and $18 million in matching funds – that will demonstrate whether carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be captured and injected into subterranean porous rock formations for secure storage.
Carbon storage, also known as carbon sequestration, is a way of putting CO2 gas that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere into “safekeeping.” Geologic sequestration, a method of carbon storage, involves injecting liquefied or “supercritical” CO2 deep underground. Carbon storage is seen as one possible strategy to help stabilize global CO2 emissions and reduce the impacts of climate change.
The oil industry has been injecting relatively small amounts of CO2 underground for decades to enhance oil production, but now scientists are looking for ways to put billions of tons of CO2 safely beneath the Earth’s surface.
The new project, being conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy - National Energy Technology Laboratory, will involve injecting and monitoring one million tons of CO2 into geologic formations in northern Montana. It will be carried out by the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership at MSU – which received the preliminary award in 2009 and has been finalizing details on site selection, logistics, and project partners in order to proceed.
The primary goal of the Energy Department’s sequestration research is to understand the behavior of CO2 when stored in geologic formations. For example, studies are being done to determine the extent to which the CO2 moves within the geologic formation, and what physical and chemical changes occur to the formation when CO2 is injected. This information is key to ensure that sequestration will not impair the geologic integrity of an underground formation, and that CO2 storage is secure and environmentally acceptable.
“This grant award demonstrates, once again, MSU’s national competitiveness in the search for energy solutions and our excellence in research and teaching,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado.
In addition to the $67 million of federal funding, private partners are contributing another $18 million in required matching funds for the project. The team includes four other universities, three national laboratories, and five private sector companies and has experience with carbon storage projects in Washington, Wyoming, Canada, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as well as internationally.
The project site will be located at Kevin Dome (pronounced kee-vin), a geologic feature that extends 700 square miles underground and has trapped naturally occurring CO2 for millions of years. There are barrier rock layers above the CO2 that prevent gas or other liquids from migrating to the surface.
“Since we are getting the CO2 from a naturally occurring source, we can learn from nature how the CO2 has been stored safely in rock formations for millions of years,” said Partnership Director Lee Spangler. “This grant will enable us to learn about the transportation, injection, and monitoring of CO2 in an engineered system.”
Three companies, Vecta Oil and Gas, SR2020 Inc. and Schlumberger, are providing the bulk of the matching funds for the project. Vecta and SR2020 are involved in the seismic survey, which will be one of the first steps of the project to ensure the geology is suitable and help determine the best locations for the wells. Schlumberger (News - Alert) will core and log wells to provide more detailed geologic data about the subsurface.
This project represents the third phase of the Big Sky Partnership. The first phase of the program identified and characterized the carbon sources and sinks in the region, and the second phase has focused on determining the best approaches for storing CO2 in both geologic and terrestrial systems. Small scale terrestrial and geologic field tests are currently under way by the partnership.
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Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
