James J. Dooley

A CO2-storage supply curve for North America and its implications for the deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage systems

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the results that indicate a large and variably distributed North American storage capacity of at least 3,800 gigatones of carbon dioxide (GtCO2), with deep saline formations accounting for the majority of this capacity. A geospatial and techno-economic database of 2,082 anthropogenic CO2 point sources in North America, each with annual emissions greater than 100,000 tones of CO2, was also refined. By computing a series of pairwise cost-minimizing decisions for these CO2 sources and potential geological-storage reservoirs, a CO2-storage cost curve for North America was calculated that includes the cost of transporting CO2 from the plant gate to a selected storage reservoir, the cost of injecting it into the underground formation, and any offsetting revenue associated with resulting enhanced hydrocarbon recovery, yielding a classic, positively sloping supply curve. Sensitivities examined for this CO2-storage cost curve focus on: high/low oil and gas prices; the maximum allowed distance between source and reservoir; and, for storage in value-added reservoirs, the infrastructure costs associated with CO2-driven hydrocarbon recovery.

Regional Opportunities for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage in China: A Comprehensive CO2 Storage Cost Curve and Analysis of the Potential for Large Scale Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage in the People’s Republic of China

This study presents data and analysis on the potential for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies to deploy within China, including a survey of the CO2 source fleet and potential geologic storage capacity. The results presented here indicate that there is significant potential for CCS technologies to deploy in China at a level sufficient to deliver deep, sustained and cost-effective emissions reductions for China over the course of this century.

The Potential Role of Biotechnology in Addressing the Long-Term Problem of Climate Change in the Context of Global Energy and Economic Systems

Publisher Summary Commercial biomass is a technology that is of interest in the context of the formulation of a response to the issue of climate change, because it is a potential source of modern commercial fuels in which the carbon content of the fuel was originally obtained from the air. Thus, biomass has no net emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most prominent greenhouse gas. Biomass must compete with well established energy forms, in addition to other emerging energy technologies, for market share. To win a significant market share, biomass technology must continue to improve. The degree of improvement will have a major influence on the role of biotechnology in addressing climate change. This chapter examines the competition among technologies in a variety of markets, and explores conditions under which new markets for modern commercial biologically derived fuels could emerge. Important interactions with agricultural markets and land use and land cover have been considered. The successful application of biotechnology to crop, pasture, and forest productivities has been shown to be important. The availability of a complimentary energy technology like carbon capture and disposal technologies has been shown to dramatically reduce the cost of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases, as well as to open up the possibility of negative-emission energy production from biomass.

Source/Sink Matching for U.S. Ethanol Plants and Candidate Deep Geologic Carbon Dioxide Storage Formations

This report presents data on the 140 existing and 74 planned ethanol production facilities and their proximity to candidate deep geologic storage formations. Half of the existing ethanol plants and 64% of the planned units sit directly atop a candidate geologic storage reservoir. While 70% of the existing and 97% of the planned units are within 100 miles of at least one candidate deep geologic storage reservoir. As a percent of the total CO2 emissions from these facilities, 92% of the exiting units CO2 and 97% of the planned units CO2 emissions are accounted for by facilities that are within 100 miles of at least one potential CO2 storage reservoir.

Accelerated adoption of carbon dioxide capture and storage Within the United States electric utility industry: The impact of stabilizing at 450 PPMV and 550 PPMV

Publisher Summary Conventional wisdom has held that stabilization of atmospheric concentrations of CO2 would likely entail the retirement of a few of the oldest, most obsolete plants in the nation each year, with the majority of emissions abatement coming from the operation of CCS-enabled power plants that were built to serve the needs of a growing economy. But according to the above analysis, following the WRE450 emissions pathway would result in the retirement of 769 plants in the space of 60 years (2005-2064), an average of 13 coal plants per year for six decades, resulting in a nearly complete decommissioning and rebuilding of the entire U.S. coal-fired fleet, with additional turnover in oil- and gas-fired generation. In either the WRE450 or WRE550 case, it is clear that the measures necessary to bring about stabilization of atmospheric concentrations of CO2 for just one sector of the U.S. economy, the electric utility sector, will require a massive effort on the part of industrial and public entities. Even if such a large-scale deployment of CCS within the U.S. electric power sector were to be undertaken, it must be coupled with similar aggressive emissions strategies in all economic sectors and in all nations to have the desired impact of bringing about stabilized atmospheric concentrations of CO2.

On the Long-Term Average Cost of CO2 Transport and Storage

Paper describes general trends in the cost of CO2 transport and storage (including measurement, monitoring, and verification) and how these can be used to justify a proxy cost to cover a large number of potential CCS commercial deployment scenarios.

Research and Development Trends for Energy

Invited chapter for the Encyclopedia of Energy focusing on Energy Research and Development trends and the analysis of these trends. Article surveys energy R&D data from a number of industrialized nations and list some cautions for those who rely on these data for decisionmaking.

A Brief Technical Critique of Ehlig- Economides and Economides 2010: "Sequestering Carbon Dioxide in a Closed Underground Volume"

In their 2010 paper, “Sequestering Carbon Dioxide in a Close Underground Volume,” authors Ehlig-Economides and Economides assert that “underground carbon dioxide sequestration via bulk CO2 injection is not feasible at any cost.” The authors base this conclusion on a number of assumptions that the peer reviewed technical literature and decades of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection experience have proven invalid. In particular, the paper is built upon two flawed premises: first, that effective CO2 storage requires the presence of complete structural closure bounded on all sides by impermeable media, and second, that any other storage system is guaranteed to leak. These two assumptions inform every aspect of the authors’ analyses, and without them, the paper fails to prove its conclusions. The assertion put forward by Ehlig-Economides and Economides that anthropogenic CO2 cannot be stored in deep geologic formations is refuted by even the most cursory examination of the more than 25 years of accumulated commercial carbon dioxide capture and storage experience.

MIDWEST REGIONAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION PARTNERSHIP (MRCSP) MANAGING CLIMATE CHANGE AND SECURING A FUTURE FOR THE MIDWEST'S INDUSTRIAL BASE

This is the third semiannual report for Phase I of the Midwest Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP). The project consists of nine tasks to be conducted over a two-year period that started in October 2003. The makeup of the MRCSP and objectives are described. Progress on each of the active Tasks is also described and where possible, for those Tasks at some point of completion, a summary of results is presented.

Regional differences in carbon dioxide capture and storage markets within the United States

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a study on integrated CO 2 capture, transport, and storage cost curves for three distinct regions of the United States: West Texas, the Ohio River Valley, and the Southeastern United States. The study assembled and refined a geospatial and techno-economic database of over 2,000 stationary, anthropogenic North American sources of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) accounting for over 4 gigatonnes of annual CO 2 emissions. These point sources produce CO 2 emissions streams that range from 3 to 99% purity by volume, thus implying that there are numerous possible prices for producing pipeline-quality CO 2 from these point sources. The study also collected available data on candidate geologic reservoirs in the United States and Canada, and developed and employed a methodology for estimating the effective storage capacities of these deep saline formations, enhanced oil recovery plays, gas reservoirs, and coal basins. Results indicate a large and variably distributed North American geologic CO 2 storage capacity of at least 3,800 gigatonnes of CO 2 .