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CCS in Saskatchewan Cansolv: capturing attention at SaskPower Boundary Dam University of Regina: pioneering research CO2 storage safe at May / June 2012 Issue 27 Weyburn site

CO2 storage combined with geothermal energy UK CCS demonstration competition: a new start CO2 Capture Project CO2 storage impurities study NEL on CO2 flow measurement and monitoring Global CCS Institute submissions to UNFCCC CCJ27a_Layout 1 21/04/2012 16:08 Page 2 CCJ27a_Layout 1 21/04/2012 16:09 Page 1

Contents Leaders Cansolv: capturing attention at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam power station Cansolv Technologies is providing the CO2 capture technology for SaskPower’s Boundary Dam project, which will begin capturing CO2 in late 2013 2 University of Regina: pioneering research The International Test Center for CO2 Capture may have found the ‘magic bullet’ - a process that virtually eliminates the energy penalty for post-combustion capture 5

May/June 2012 Issue 27 Storage at Weyburn safe says study Third-party research has confirmed that the carbon dioxide Cenovus Energy uses for enhanced oil recovery at its Weyburn operation is not linked to CO2 concentrations in the Carbon Capture Journal soil at a nearby property 7 2nd Floor, 8 Baltic Street East, London EC1Y 0UP www.carboncapturejournal.com Tel +44 (0)207 017 3405 Fax +44 (0)207 251 9179 Legal Column At long last the process of deciding which of GB’s incipient CCS demonstration projects will Editor receive state support has recommenced in earnest. The new process contrasts sharply with Keith Forward its recently departed predecessor and offers much cause for optimism, says Calum Hughes [email protected] 8 Publisher Karl Jeffery Projects and policy [email protected] UK CCS competition: a new beginning Subscriptions The UK has set out its new long term CCS plans following on from the cancelled CCS [email protected] demonstration project competition 10 Advertising and Sponsorship Global CCS Institute submissions to UNFCCC John Finder The Global CCS Institute is an accredited observer to the United Nations Framework Tel +44 (0)207 017 3413 Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and recently made two submissions to the [email protected] UNFCCC Secretariat on CCS related matters 12 Carbon Capture Journal is your one stop Global CCS Institute and China sign cooperation agreement information source for new technical The Global CCS Institute and China's Department of Climate Change, National developments, opinion, regulatory and Development and Reform Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding research activity with carbon capture, regarding cooperation on CCS transport and storage. 13 Carbon Capture Journal is delivered on print Capture and pdf version to a total of 6000 people, all of whom have requested to receive it, SaskPower & Hitachi to build CCS test facility including employees of power companies, SaskPower and Hitachi Ltd are partnering to construct a $60 million carbon capture test oil and gas companies, government, facility at SaskPower’s Shand Power Station in southeastern Saskatchewan 15 engineering companies, consultants, educators, students, and suppliers. Transport and storage Subscriptions: £250 a year for 6 issues. To CO2 storage with geothermal energy production subscribe, please contact Karl Jeffery on HMC’s proprietary carbon dioxide plume geothermal technology has the potential to [email protected] enhance the feasibility and economic viability of carbon capture and geologic storage Alternatively you can subscribe online at by offsetting or eliminating the cost of CCS through generation of renewable www.d-e-j.com/store geothermal electricity 16 CO2 Capture Project CO2 impurities report The CCP has completed Phase One of a study into the impact of impurities in CO2 storage, identifying possible cost savings from using less pure streams of CO2 18 Front cover: The Cansolv CO2 & SO2 capture plant at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam power CCS measurement challenges plant, currently under construction, will start One of the remaining challenges to be overcome in establishing CCS as a practical to capture CO2 by the end of 2013 operational process is effective measurement and monitoring of the CO2 stream. By John Morgan, Carbon Capture & Storage Business Manager, and Philip Cherukara, Consultant for Sustainable Energy, NEL 20 CIUDEN's PISCO2 project commences The research team working at the Fundación Ciudad de la Energía (CIUDEN) has extracted 50 cubic metres of upper layer soil from the site of the future CO2 storage pilot plant in Spain 23 Status of CCS project database The status of 78 large-scale integrated projects data courtesy of the Global CCS Institute 24 Carbon capture journal (Print) ISSN 1757-1995 May - June 2012 - carbon capture journal 1 Carbon capture journal (Online) ISSN 1757-2509 CCJ27a_Layout 1 21/04/2012 16:09 Page 2

Leaders Cansolv: capturing attention at Boundary Dam

Cansolv Technologies Inc. (CTI) is providing the CO2 capture technology for SaskPower’s Boundary Dam project, which will begin capturing CO2 in late 2013. Author: Devin Shaw

As a selected technology provider on the Boundary Dam project, CTI is eager to see the project advance to fruition and start to capture CO2 in late 2013. This will be the first commercial scale application of the CANSOLV CO2 capture technology, which goes without saying as it will be the first commercial scale post-combustion Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) project of its kind in the world. As shown by its on- schedule construction status, SaskPower is well on its way to recognizing this exciting milestone. Just as SaskPower are pioneers in CCS, CTI are also pioneers – in the world of re- generable fluegas scrubbing. CTI were the first to apply and commercialize amines in the application of post-combustion, oxida- tive fluegas scrubbing. Amines, such as MEA or DMEA, have been used for regen- erable scrubbing in the Oil & Gas world for many decades. It is common practice to use such an amine to remove pollutants such as Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and/or Carbon Figure 1 - Cansolv CO2 capture plant (©SaskPower 2006) Dioxide (CO2) from natural gas streams or refinery gas streams to purify them and ren- der them ready for sale. This is an application performed on the gaged CTI to run a short pilot campaign at ment as their technology of choice for their raw gas itself – before any combustion or use their Poplar River power station (see Figure Integrated Carbon Capture & Sequestration thereof and therefore at high concentrations 1 below). The CANSOLV technology had (ICCS) project at Boundary Dam (Unit #3). and pressures. And also, importantly, since intrigued SaskPower enough that they want- Progression of the on-going plant construc- the gas has not yet been combusted: without ed to learn more about it. The campaign saw tion is shown in Figure 3 to follow. the presence of oxygen. CTI developed the CTI send a mobile ‘multi-pollutant capture concept of a regenerable amine process and plant’ to the SaskPower site to treat a small The Technology applied it in a post-combustion environment slipstream of the coal-fired power plant flue- Figure 2 opposite shows the flowsheet (sim- – which implies low-pressure gas (close to gas for SO2 & CO2 removal. plified) of the SaskPower integrated atmospheric pressures) and of course con- As the only provider of amine based re- SO2/CO2 Capture system in construction taining the presence of oxygen. As redun- generable SO2 and CO2 scrubbing technolo- above. dant as it may sound, oxygen is of course a gies, CTI is uniquely positioned to offer an fantastic “oxidizer” of many things; amines integrated system that uses the same tech- Brief Cansolv Technology Description are no exception. nology to sequentially scrub SO2 and CO2 Fluegas is first sent to the SO2 absorber and It was the careful consideration of how in one system. Since the two processes are then onto the CO2 absorber before being re- to handle and manage the use of an amine in the same (the flowsheets are nearly identi- turned to the stack with zero SO2 and only this type of environment where CTI excelled cal), CANSOLV can also take advantage of 10% of the CO2 remaining. The fluegas is and eventually succeeded in commercializ- some internal synergies to recover energy first quenched and sub-cooled in a Prescrub- ing the use of this unique technology. Anoth- and thus lower the overall energy demand. ber section, which is located in the SO2 ab- er unique element, pioneered by CTI, was It is no secret that a significant down- sorber. SO2 and CO2 are absorbed from the the use of amines in scrubbing sulfur diox- fall of these types of CO2 capture plants is gas by contact with the Cansolv solvents ide (SO2) instead of H2S or CO2 – which is the parasitic consumption of low pressure through sections of structured mass transfer at the heart of the patents and the key differ- steam. When applied at a power station, packing in the absorption towers. Lean cool entiator of the technology; but this is the top- where steam translates to electricity to the amine is fed to the top of each Absorber ic of another article. grid, this is a critical parameter in selecting Tower. SaskPower and CTI have been working a technology for a CCS project. Ultimately In each tower, as the absorbents flow together since 2006, when SaskPower en- SaskPower selected this integrated arrange- down the column counter current to the feed

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Figure 2 - Flowsheet of the SaskPower integrated SO2/CO2 Capture system

gas, the pollutant is absorbed into the amine. (vapor) and product-saturated condensate are efit gained by running the capture plant cool- The rich amine collects in the sump of the separated in the Stripper Overhead Accumu- er. Absorber Tower and is pumped to the Re- lator and the condensate is returned to the Boundary Dam happens to be located generation Tower (or “Stripper”). Since the top of the Stripper Tower as reflux. The in a fairly cool environment -especially in absorption of CO2 is an exothermic reaction, gaseous product leaves the Stripper Over- the winter- and is ideally located next to a interstage cooling is employed mid-tower to head Accumulator and is delivered at posi- cool water source. Therefore SaskPower is remove this heat from the Absorber tower, tive pressure for downstream handling. able to take advantage of a system designed thus maintaining absorption efficiency. for optimal temperatures for the capture The rich absorbent is pumped at a con- Features plant. In fact, it gets so cold in the winter sea- stant rate to the Regeneration Tower through Some of the unique features of the SaskPow- son, SaskPower opted to design the system a Lean/Rich Heat Exchanger that recovers er Boundary Dam plant are: to be housed in a closed and temperature sensible heat from the lean amine. Equip- controlled building depicted in Figure 1 as ment known as a Reboiler uses low pressure Cooling the optimal winterization strategy. steam to indirectly generate stripping steam Efficient cooling equipment upstream of the which is injected into the bottom of the col- CANSOLV plant is providing a very cool Absorber Design umn. As the liquid solution flows down the gas which improves overall performance of Since SaskPower selected the Cansolv tech- tower, it meets the rising hot steam in sec- the system. Every amine system performs nology, the SO2 and CO2 scrubbing systems tions of mass transfer packing where the heat better at cooler temperatures – so it is a can be designed to be housed in the same reverses the absorption reaction and returns tradeoff on the value of cooling the fluegas structure. As they are sequential; they are es- the SO2 and CO2 to the gas phase. versus the benefit of the capture performance sentially designed as one block. This means In each case, the gaseous product is car- that must be evaluated on a project-by-proj- minimal plot space requirements as well as ried overhead and cooled in the respective ect basis. In very hot climates for example, cost savings, since the design actually allows Stripper Condensers where most of the cooling can be extremely expensive and for the sharing of a common wall between steam condenses. Water-saturated product therefore these costs may outweigh the ben- the 2 sections.

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Another noteworthy feature is the se- lected material of construction (MOC). As the absorbers both operate at atmospheric conditions, and are therefore not pressure vessels, significant costs savings are realized by opting for an MOC such as concrete lined with appropriate acid resistant tiling to with- stand the wet scrubbing environments. And finally, in the SaskPower case it was also decided to design the towers as rec- tangular vessels rather than the typical cylin- drical tower design. This enabled the wall sharing described above, but also allowed for a simple design and supply of the mass transfer packing which is installed inside the towers.

Heat Integration Since SaskPower values their low pressure steam very highly, in this case it was also worth considering optimizing the plant for superior energy consumption. Unique to CANSOLV is the ability to recover energy from one section (SO2 scrubbing) and use it Figure 3 - The Cansolv CO2 & SO2 capture plant at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam power plant, in the next (CO2 capture). This is done us- currently under construction, will start to capture CO2 by the end of 2013 ing special equipment (Mechanical Vapor Recompressors or MVR) to convert other- wise wasted energy into high value steam. This is a trade-off of some investment in a CCS project, there are several options environmental impacts related thereto are re- equipment and some electrical energy in ex- available to accomplish the goals. Specifi- duced, along with continual reagent pur- change for a reduction in LP steam consump- cally when it comes to SO2 removal, a com- chase costs. tion. mon approach would be to consider a stan- This is a case-by-case evaluation that dard Fluegas Desulfurization (FGD) scheme Conclusion requires careful consideration. Ultimately, employed nearly worldwide for power appli- As a demonstration project, SaskPower is the value decision by SaskPower was to opt cations. These are “once-through” alkali taking the very involved and complex meas- for this line-up. The result is leading class scrubbing units. This means non-regenera- ures required to be able to fully evaluate and energy consumption, and to a much smaller ble systems that use a reagent such as caus- appreciate the intricacies of CCS. This infor- extent some savings in peripheral equipment tic, lime, limestone or other to scrub out the mation will be used to make the value deci- sizes. Since this line-up converts liquid SO2. sion going forward about whether or not streams into energy, some of the resulting For large scale power applications wet CCS will be a viable option for streams in the system to be treated are effec- limestone scrubbing is one of the most com- Saskatchewan to be able to de-carbonize and tively smaller. monly used systems. One of the advantages continue using its abundant local natural coal CANSOLV offers in this project is that resources to meet a significant portion of the More than carbon capture CANSOLV SO2 scrubbing delivers a pure provinces growing electricity needs. Since by definition Boundary Dam is a “car- stream of SO2 product to the client, instead While several other similar demonstra- bon capture” project, one may ask why the of a waste product such as gypsum. These tion projects around the globe are also pro- need to also remove SO2. The answer can be waste products often require disposal of gressing rapidly - and learnings from all of brief. Essentially SO2 that may be present in some sort and therefore related legacy dis- these will be required in order to move CCS the fluegas entering into the CO2 capture ab- posal and transportation costs and obliga- forward in the future - the SaskPower sorber would be absorbed into the CO2 cap- tions. In the case of SaskPower, the pure Boundary Dam unit 3 Integrated Carbon ture solvent preferentially. This is a two-fold SO2 product is to be converted on-site into Capture and Sequestration project is leading problem: 1) this takes up room in the solvent sulfuric acid (H2SO4) - which is a saleable the pack and CTI is privileged to be a part that is supposed to be absorbing CO2 and 2) by-product. of this pioneer project watched by the world. since the bond of the SO2 in the solvent can In the particular case of SaskPower due withstand the “steam stripping” in the CO2 to its location this is a twofold benefit: regenerator – additional equipment would be 1) The local fertilizer industry (among required to then remove the SO2 from the others) suggests that the H2SO4 from CAN- solvent. SOLV would be a welcomed product rather Economically, and operationally, it than a waste to handle (i.e. low quality gyp- makes sense to remove the SO2 before it sum for disposal) More information gets to the CO2 absorber. 2) As limestone is not native to www.cansolv.com In a project such as Boundary Dam Saskatchewan and would have to be import- www.saskpowercarboncapture.com where SO2 and CO2 removal is required for ed from abroad, transportation and legacy

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Leaders University of Regina: pioneering research The International Test Center for CO2 Capture has been developing technologies to make carbon capture work since 2001. It’s latest innovation is a catalyst-aided process that could virtually eliminate the energy penalty for post-combustion CO2 capture.

Most people, when they think of carbon cap- in-house technologies, but can also be used to ture and storage (CCS) activities in provide amine and plant operation studies for Saskatchewan, think immediately of the Wey- external clients, and a major part of the ITC’s burn Project (formally known as the IEA GHG operations involves providing analytical serv- Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Stor- ices. age Project). This is probably the world’s flag- Also, ITC is the only CCS research fa- ship project when it comes to CCS, but it real- cility of its caliber associated with a public in- ly is only one half of the CCS picture – the stitution of higher learning. Consequently, storage half. However, in Saskatchewan, be- while much of the research is patented and cause CCS is vital to our social and economic protected, a lot is also published openly. In ad- future, we have more than just Weyburn to of- dition, one of the most valuable services of- Re-inventing post combustion capture with fer. fered is training. ITC is the only facility in the amines - Dr. Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul, one For more than 20 years, researchers in world where engineers and scientist can be of the early pioneers of PCC and a co-founder the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sci- trained in the complete operations of large- of the ITC ence at the University of Regina have been scale CO2 capture operations. As such, much studying and developing technologies for the of the work is conducted by young researchers ically viable CCS technologies available to- other half of the CCS equation – carbon cap- in training. This provides industries around the day. They have developed an entire line of ture. These researchers are world leaders in world with an excellent source of highly qual- novel amine solvents that consistently out-per- carbon capture research and development ified personnel to help them make decisions form conventional and competitors’ solvents. (R&D), and their focus is firmly on develop- about the application of CCS in their opera- They’ve invented process designs that dramat- ing technologies that will work not just for tions and design potential CCS projects. ically reduce the energy required for carbon Saskatchewan, but for the world at large. Incidentally, process design is another capture plant operations, which is one of the As part of their efforts, the University of service offered by the ITC. The group has pro- key stumbling blocks for commercial imple- Regina carbon capture research group estab- vided Front-End Engineering Design analyses mentation of CCS. As Dr. Raphael Idem, lished the International Test Centre for CO2 for numerous organizations around the world. Chief Researcher at ITC, points out, “Carbon Capture (ITC) in 2001. This $25+ million re- The ITC’s primary focus has been on de- capture is by far the most expensive compo- search centre features two multi-million dollar veloping post-combustion capture (PCC) with nent of CCS. CCS will only be economic pilot plants for post-combustion capture re- amines, and the researchers chose to focus on when an energy efficient system for post-com- search and demonstration, and it includes one this area for a number of reasons. bustion capture is proven on a commercial of North America’s most advanced laboratory First, amine solvent applications have scale.” facilities with an array of analytical equipment been used to treat fossil fuel gas streams for At present, there are tens of thousands of that remains state-of-the art more than a decades, so the technology is already well es- conventional fossil fuel combustion facilities decade later. tablished and understood. This meant that the operating many of the world’s most vital in- There are a number of unique features focus could be placed more on scaling up an dustries. Many of these, such as coal-fired about the ITC as a research centre for CO2 established technology rather than purely on power plants, have extremely long life spans capture. In the first place, ITC’s research, de- invention, so industrial-scale CO2 capture (as many as 50 years) and are so cost-effec- velopment, and demonstration (RD&D) pro- could be brought online much faster. tive compared to alternative technologies that gram is among the most comprehensive in the This does not mean, however, that the it would be impossible for most economies to world. Studies include all aspects of the CO2 work done at ITC is not without novelty or in- suddenly shift to alternative, clean energy capture process, including corrosion preven- vention. “What we’re really doing here is rein- processes without incurring unsustainable eco- tion and management, amine degradation and venting an existing technology to make it nomic penalties. In other words, the underpin- reclamation, process control and modeling, work economically on large scales and in a ning of the global economy is fossil fuels, and and even artificial intelligence applications for new application. It’s a bit like redesigning it will remain so for decades to come. PCC, monitoring and control of post-combustion technologies that work well on earth to work because it can be used to retrofit conventional capture (PCC) plants. The unique array of an- even better in space – it’s a whole new envi- fossil fuel combustion facilities for carbon alytical equipment allows detailed study of the ronment,” explains Dr. Paitoon Tontiwach- capture, represents the best hope of making molecular structures of amines and their wuthikul, one of the early pioneers of PCC and dramatic, large-scale reductions in industrial degradation products, along with characteriza- a co-founder of the ITC. CO2 emissions without significantly increas- tion of the types of corrosion occurring in the The novelty this group has brought to the ing costs of energy and manufactured goods system. The researchers can also fully exam- field of CCS is extensive. The group has pub- or disrupting the global economy. ine the kinetics and mass transfer and other lished hundreds of journal papers and dozens This is another reason Saskatchewan is behaviours of amines and catalysts. of technical reports. They’ve trained dozens playing a critical role in global CCS develop- The pilot plants and other facilities are of young engineers and researchers, but most ment. Saskatchewan’s economy is one of also technology neutral, meaning they can be importantly, they’ve designed some of the those that depend heavily on fossil fuels. Pe- used not just for development and testing of world’s most efficient, effective, and econom- troleum and mining make up about 13 per cent

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of Saskatchewan’s GDP. This is the largest simply not an option. The other catch – contributor to the provincial economy next to Saskatchewan’s entire electricity transporta- the service sector, which, itself, depends heav- tion infrastructure would need to be replaced, ily on the province’s energy and fossil fuel in- since it is not designed to handle the output of dustries. a nuclear plant. Saskatchewan also has, perhaps, the So, if nuclear won’t work, what about world’s largest per capita CO2 emissions hydroelectricity? Once again, Saskatchewan (about 73 tonnes per person – twenty more is at a distinct disadvantage. While the other than Qatar, the nation with the highest per provinces, as well as the northern territories, capita emissions). This, of course, is a deceiv- have ample water resources to make hydro- ing statistic, since Saskatchewan’s actual CO2 electric power a viable primary energy source, emissions are only about 75 megatonnes per Saskatchewan has a semi-arid climate with year, which is small compared to the actual few major lakes and rivers, at least not in the emissions of many jurisdictions with very low most densely populated areas. So hydro is on- per capita emissions. Consider Iran, whose per ly a supplemental option. capita emissions are around 8 tonnes per per- Of course, Saskatchewan does have son but total emissions are a whopping 574 plenty of wind, but since the wind doesn’t al- megatonnes. ways blow when electricity demand is peak- More significantly, about 70 per cent of ing and electricity storage technology hasn’t Dr. Raphael Idem, Chief Researcher at ITC, and Saskatchewan’s electricity is generated via reached the point where this doesn’t matter, his team have developed catalysts for fossil fuel combustion, the vast majority of wind, too, is only viable as a supplemental hydrogen production and energy efficient which is coal-fired power. rather than primary electricity source in post-combustion carbon capture While this would be problematic for any Saskatchewan. jurisdiction looking to reduce emissions, it is While Saskatchewan does have a very The process also incorporates capture, actually far more problematic for good agricultural base for bio-renewable ener- recycling, and storage of CO2, making it CO2 Saskatchewan than it is for most other places gy options, these technologies are in their in- neutral when used with fossil fuels and a CO2 with a high proportion of fossil fuel-based fancy, and it will be decades before they are sink when used with biofuels. electricity generation. While other jurisdic- ready to meet current energy demand. The In an interesting twist, the researchers’ tions in Canada and around the world also world simply cannot afford to keep up unmiti- most recent catalyst research suggests that have a large portion of their electricity gener- gated use of fossil fuels at its ever-expanding they might just have found the magic bullet to ated using coal-fired power, it is not for lack rate while waiting for biofuels to become a vi- make post-combustion capture not just eco- of viable alternatives. able primary energy source. nomically viable, but perhaps even value Many places, like Ontario, for example, For Saskatchewan, at least for now, fos- added. are electing to simply phase out their coal- sil fuel-generated power is the only viable op- The group has very recently developed fired power. They can do this because their cli- tion, which means that carbon capture is an es- an entirely new catalyst-aided process that dra- mate, geography, and population demograph- sential technology for this province. As a re- matically increases the efficiency of the post- ics are far more conducive to making this sult, researchers at the University of Regina combustion capture process. The new catalyst switch. and the ITC are focused on making carbon enables the capture process to operate using Take, for example, nuclear power. On- capture work. hot water instead of steam, which virtually tario has a very large population, by compari- eliminates the energy penalty associated with son to Saskatchewan. So, for that matter, does Latest research post-combustion capture. Alberta, the other province with a very large But, that’s not their only focus. In fact, these “With this technology,” explains Idem, portion of its electricity coming from fossil fu- researchers are taking a uniquely long view to “we can make a business case for carbon cap- els. Nuclear power, however, is a very large- the problem of clean energy and greenhouse ture based on added value rather than regula- scale technology. It is really only economical- gas emissions reduction. In addition to their tory requirements.” In other words, carbon ly and technically viable when used in areas comprehensive post-combustion capture pro- capture plants can be operated without sub- with high electricity demand (i.e., those that gram, they also have R&D programs in biofu- stantially affecting the efficiency of the origi- are more densely populated). A single, small- els and other alternative energy options. nal process, and the captured CO2 can be sold scale nuclear plant would essentially produce Of particular note is the work of Dr. for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) oper- more electricity than Saskatchewan can use. Raphael Idem, Dr. Hussameldin Ibrahim, and ations, making this an ideal means of obtain- On the surface, this might appear appealing – Dr. Ataullah Khan on catalyst-based hydrogen ing CO2 for EOR. we could sell the surplus to our neighbours. production. This team has designed an ex- This technology has been described by But there’s a catch – actually, two tremely promising novel catalyst that allows many in the CCS industry as a game-chang- catches. hydrogen production to be both feed flexible ing breakthrough, and it represents the most In the first place, the province’s entire and process flexible. In other words, a single recent innovation in CCS to come out of electricity production would essentially be catalyst can be used to switch between feed- Saskatchewan, which has been a long-estab- coming from a single source – never a good stocks without disrupting plant operations. lished pioneer in CCS development. idea in terms of energy security. This is partic- Even better, the catalyst can convert even un- ularly problematic, since, next to the northern processed feedstocks, like raw ethanol and territories, Saskatchewan is Canada’s coldest low-grade natural gas, into hydrogen. This More information province, experiencing more days below - means that many waste products, such as glyc- www.uregina.ca 18°C per year than any other province. erol, fusel oils, and biogas, can become value- www.co2-research.ca Lengthy electricity outages in the winter are added fuel feedstocks.

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Leaders Storage at Weyburn safe says study Third-party research has confirmed that the carbon dioxide Cenovus Energy uses for enhanced oil recovery at its Weyburn operation is not linked to CO2 concentrations in the soil at a nearby property.

“These results provide complete assurance to landowners and the public that the CO2 we’re injecting about 1.5 kilometres below the ground is staying put and that our Wey- burn operation is safe,” said Brad Small, Cenovus Vice-President, Oil & Natural Gas, Saskatchewan. Cenovus, which operates the Weyburn Unit on behalf of 23 other partners, made a commitment to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources to evaluate whether CO2 in the soil and other reported issues at a nearby property were a result of its opera- tions. Several third-party specialists were contracted to conduct a site assessment. “Our findings indicate that there is ab- solutely no way CO2 in the soil at the prop- erty in question originated from Cenovus’s operation in Weyburn,” said Court Sandau, PhD in analytical chemistry, founder of ChemistryMatters and lead scientist for the Updated sampling grid for investigation site based on a statistical analysis sampling plan site assessment. “Using isotope dating, we accounting for presence of water bodies and infrastructure (Source: ©Cenovus Energy Nov 2011 can differentiate between ‘young’ and ‘old’ “Summary of Investigation” ) carbon samples. The CO2 that Cenovus in- jects comes from coal deposits, which were formed millions of years ago. Our findings area. The full reports are available at to flow to producing wells. The CO2 that is assert that the CO2 present at the property www.cenovus.com. pumped out with the oil is then recycled. was formed recently and is attributed to nat- “We did not detect any hydrocarbons Weyburn is one of Canada’s largest en- ural soil respiration processes.” when conducting surface water sampling,” hanced oil recovery operations and the site Findings of the assessment confirm: said Sandau. “Cyanobacteria and phyto- of the largest geological greenhouse gas • there is no presence of CO2 from plankton were detected, which are common (GHG) storage project in the world. There Cenovus’s Weyburn operation in either to relatively stagnant water bodies in south- are currently more than 17 million tonnes of the soil or wetlands of the property; ern Saskatchewan and are known to cause a CO2 stored at the Weyburn site. Scientists • there are no detectable hydrocarbons ‘sheen’ on water surfaces, similar to what from 30 countries working under the Inter- present in the surface water at the was initially reported on the water body.” national Energy Agency GHG Weyburn-Mi- property; and Cenovus also added a frog habitat and dale CO2 Monitoring & Storage research • there are no integrity issues with the wetland evaluation after northern leopard project, an international program led by the Cenovus-operated wells and frogs were found in the study area. Petroleum Technology Research Centre, infrastructure located on the property. “Frogs are sensitive to low levels of have been studying the project for a decade. The scope of the assessment included contamination. Their presence in the area is Their past research indicates that the CO2 is the evaluation of gas concentrations in the a strong indicator that a healthy ecosystem remaining underground. soil at both the property and a control site; is present,” said Sandau. characterization of the CO2 that Cenovus in- CO2 has been injected at the Weyburn More information jects and the CO2 found in the soil; surface Unit since 2000. When CO2 contacts oil at www.cenovus.com and groundwater testing, and integrity in- high pressure, it makes the oil thinner and www.ptrc.ca spection of the oilfield infrastructure in the causes it to swell, making it easier for the oil

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CCS legal column - Calum Hughes CCS legal and policy – UK competition

At long last the process of deciding which of GB’s incipient CCS demonstration projects will receive state support has recommenced in earnest. The new process contrasts sharply with its recently departed predecessor and offers much cause for optimism.

Following an astute amount of well designed looks to the future and the role of CCS in- counts. consultation with industry, DECC launched dustry as a means of allowing ongoing fos- So there its CCS Commercialisation Programme (the sil-fuelled power generation within a di- is much to be Programme) around the beginning of April. verse, low-carbon, energy mix. This appears positive about Through the consultation, the proposed pro- to support the claim that industry develop- as we embark curement process was communicated to the ment is central to the Programme and the on this latest various stakeholders and their views active- Outcome includes other aspects with the exercise, but ly sought. This should have engendered in- same message: the need for a CCS industry, those who dustry buy-in to the Programme and appears and the way it will develop, is now primari- read this col- to have yielded a process for project selec- ly driven by a need for energy security, not umn regularly tion which gives DECC the best possible simply environmental imperatives, and there will know that chance of finally kick-starting the develop- is a recognition that this must be paid for, on it rarely con- ment of a viable CCS industry in the UK. a sustainable basis, by energy consumers as tains a wholly One of the key reasons that the first part of the cost of the energy that they con- roseate view- CCS demonstration competition had the tor- sume. point. And this Calum Hughes, Yellow tured life that it did was that the policy driv- Environmentalist purists may bemoan edition is no Wood Energy ers at its inception were ill-conceived. The this alteration in the source of impetus for different, there status of Government policy and its effect on CCS development and it may indeed lead to are some concerning issues with the poten- the new competition has therefore been of some perverse outcomes; reductions in CO2 tial to scupper the Programme: the follow- much interest to those watching the compe- emissions from industrial emitters, for ex- ing three are probably the most significant. tition process develop. This interest was well ample, is unlikely to receive the proportion Firstly, and most obviously, is the cur- directed and the Programme that has of attention it deserves. Nevertheless, a prag- rent uncertainty with respect to the detail of emerged tells a lot about how policy has matic advocate of CCS is likely to view the the proposed Contract for Difference (CfD) changed in the five years or so since the first linking of the industry’s development to en- as an instrument of long term support for the project was launched. ergy security as a strong factor in increasing costs associated with CCS. At the moment The overarching policy aim that comes the likelihood of it attracting investment. this uncertainty makes it difficult to assess through most strongly now is that the Pro- Other key messages from the consulta- whether the proposed CfD is fundamentally gramme is not simply to procure a few proj- tion process are encouraging for those who suited for application to CCS, but, from what ects, but is intended to create the basis of a want to believe that there is a genuine policy we do know, it does seem that its designers CCS industry in the UK. This may seem an to see CCS flourish in the UK. The frustra- are faced with two potentially significant dif- obvious and unnecessary statement to make, tions that have bedevilled those trying to ob- ficulties: fuel price risk and system demand but its explicit pronouncement, and the in- tain state support for shared CCS infrastruc- (or usage) risk. crement of confidence it gives to those con- ture and clustered capture (and storage) proj- The former of these hinges upon the sidering investing, is very important. Cyni- ects, via procurement processes that ostensi- problem of establishing a CfD strike price cal observers may take a suspicious view bly supported such outcomes but in practical (or strike price mechanism) that allows for with regard to the sincerity with which this terms made them impossible to achieve, the vagaries of fossil fuel price whilst the lat- particular policy is espoused; nevertheless it have been addressed in the Programme by ter is based the problem of the amortisation resonates reassuringly through many of the the acceptance of part-chain proposals which of fixed development and operational costs foundation stones of the Programme. will be enabled, by a sufficiently flexible and over a variable, and highly uncertain, num- By way of example, the central stated well designed, competition process, to amal- ber of zero-carbon megawatt-hours exported aim of the Programme is to achieve the CCS gamate into cluster projects as the process to the grid. It is certainly possible for these Commercialisation Outcome. The ‘Out- progresses. issues to be satisfactorily addressed in the fi- come’ is rapidly achieving the status of a The potential of EOR to bring an addi- nal CfD design, but this will be difficult and mantra for the faithful and I therefore repeat tional revenue stream to the CCS commer- may require concessions that Government is it here in full: cial equation, and the importance this might not willing to make. "As a result of the intervention, private have in supporting the development of CCS The question in potential developers’ sector electricity companies can take invest- has also been explicitly recognised. Similar- minds will be whether it will be clear which ment decisions to build CCS equipped fossil ly, there is early cognisance that there are way things will go in time to make final in- fuel power stations, in the early 2020s, with- limitations on the amount of finance that can vestment decisions with regard to CCS out Government capital subsidy, at an agreed be provided by Government and a concomi- demonstration projects. What is currently CfD Strike Price that is competitive with the tant desire to create a project selection clear is that the timings of the electricity strike prices for other low carbon generation process that encourages the investment of market reform process (of which the CfD is technologies" private finance into the projects in order to a component part) and the Programme seem The statement clearly and undeniably bolster the funding from the national ac- woefully out of sync; with the EMR lagging

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CCS legal column - Calum Hughes

considerably. The second concern is with the Out- one require one’s supplier to sell to its next tential to be a profitable industry into which come. The Outcome’s central purpose is to customer at some fixed percentage less than to develop but there remains many uncer- achieve a reduction in the cost of the next it was currently selling? The aim of the Out- tainties and potential bear traps. The ques- generation of CCS projects and an increase come is a laudable aspiration but it seems tion is then, whether the value of CCS to in confidence in both the accuracy of the es- unwise to make it the yardstick by which the these parties, in aggregate, is sufficient to timate of those costs and the technical feasi- demonstration projects will be judged to persuade them to collectively shoulder the bility and operability of CCS. It is very like- have succeeded or failed. risks and move forward and whether, in ly, of course, that the projects supported via The final concern is the least easily per- seeking to attain the best deal, those risks can the Programme will achieve these aims to ceived and perhaps the most threatening. It be divided up in a mutually agreeable man- some degree; every project brings learning is whether the Government and the various ner. Whether they can or not will only be- and experience. But the Outcome requires industry stakeholders value CCS highly come apparent once serious contract negoti- that this learning and experience be of a lev- enough to share between them the risks in- ations are underway and by that time a lot el sufficient to meet a quantified goal, viz: volved with getting the first projects, and more money will have been spent. to enable future projects to be commercially therefore the industry, off the ground. With These issues are disquieting but the viable without state capital subsidy. regard to the Government’s aims, the current well-considered fashion in which the Pro- This seems a peculiar thing to ask of a level of the carbon price demonstrates that gramme has been developed to date provides project developer. Ask it to meet a technical carbon emission driven climate change re- good grounds for hope that, in the final specification, yes, to bring a project in on mains a societal cost to which the ETS does analysis, they will prove surmountable. time and in budget, certainly, but to ensure not ascribe a high enough value to meet the that the economics of the projects to follow UK’s emission reduction targets; direct sup- are within certain parameters? It is difficult port for CCS has the potential to address this to see how a project developer could achieve problem. Calum Hughes is Principal Consultant in this, or, within the context of its current proj- From potential investors’ and develop- CCS Projects, Regulation and Policy at ect, why it would want to. For example, driv- ers’ points of view, CCS (and, in the context energy consultancy Yellow Wood Energy. ing down the cost of the equipment one is of the Programme, low-carbon fossil-fuelled [email protected] procuring today is one thing, but how would electricity generation especially) has the po-

Combat climate change through technology

www.tcmda.com

May 7th we celebrate the inauguration of CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) in Norway. The launch of the world’s largest facility for testing and developing carbon capture technologies is an important milestone for all parties involved in the efforts towards a low carbon future. TCM is owned by Gassnova on behalf of the Norwegian state, Statoil, Shell and Sasol.

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Projects and Policy UK CCS competition - a new beginning

The UK has set out its new long term CCS plans following on from the cancelled CCS demonstration project competition.

The UK's recently appointed Energy and Cli- mate Change Secretary Edward Davey has UK National Audit Office (NAO) conclusions on the first UK CCS competition launched a new CCS competition to receive The NAO report concluded that the competition had been a high risk and challenging un- the £1 billion capital funding which went un- dertaking launched with insufficient planning and recognition of the commercial risks. claimed after the abandonment of the first The competition was launched in 2007 by the then Department for Business, Enter- competition, launched in 2007. prise and Regulatory Reform. It was cancelled four years later by the Department of En- The competition, which is to be known ergy and Climate Change (DECC) on the grounds of protecting value for money and be- as the ‘CCS Commercialisation Pro- cause the project could not be funded within the £1 billion budget agreed at the 2010 gramme’, is again designed, ‘to support Spending Review. The results of engineering and design studies completed by bidders, practical experience in the design, construc- upon which the Government spent £40 million (63 per cent of the £64 million it spent in tion and operation of commercial scale total on the competition), may help to reduce the costs of future carbon capture and stor- CCS.’ In order to qualify for the competition, age projects. The cost of the competition was relatively small compared to the invest- projects must: ment required to develop CCS at commercial scale and the competition has increased the • be CCS Full Chain, or part chain Department's experience in this field and understanding of project costs. capable of demonstrating the prospect DECC now plans to pursue other carbon capture and storage projects using the £1 of being part of a Full Chain Project in billion capital fund. The NAO has made recommendations for the Department to address the future; in its future programme. • have the power plant and capture The former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform had want- facility located in GB and the storage ed industry to take up a commercial contract for a large and potentially costly develop- site located offshore; mental project, even though there was considerable uncertainty over its design and costs. • be operational by 2016-2020, though Neither DECC nor its predecessor engaged sufficiently early with the commercial earlier is desirable; risk involved. During the competition, DECC's decisions to continue were not informed • abate CO2 at commercial scale (or be by detailed consideration of the probability of reaching acceptable contract terms and the a substantive step toward that time lost should the competition not succeed. The inability to agree mutually acceptable objective) whilst meeting all relevant terms with all members of the consortium contributed to DECC's decision to cancel the environmental requirements; and competition. For its new programme, the Department needs to understand fully its com- • be an electricity generator, or an mercial proposition to industry. Industrial [CO2] Emitter where it is Lack of clarity over government finance for the project delayed the early stages of part of a Cluster Project. the competition. When a capital budget was decided in October 2010, there was no agree- ment on government funding for operational costs. For its new programme, the Depart- The Department of Energy and Climate ment and Treasury should be clear on the public investment available and establish any Change (DECC) at the same time published affordability constraint. a UK CCS Roadmap and awarded £125m Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: for Research and Development, including a "In the context of value for money, developing new technologies is an inherently new £13m UK CCS Research Centre. risky undertaking. Taking calculated risks is perfectly acceptable if those risks are man- "What we are looking to achieve, in aged effectively; but in this case DECC, and its predecessor, took too long to get to grips partnership with industry, is a new world- with the significant technical, commercial and regulatory risks involved. leading CCS industry, rather than just sim- "Four years down the road, commercial scale carbon capture and storage technolo- ply projects in isolation,” said Ed Davey, “an gy has still to be developed. The Department must learn the lessons of the failure of this industry that can compete with other low- project if further time is not to be lost, and value for money achieved on future projects." carbon sources to ensure security and diver- sity of our electricity supply, an industry that can make our energy intensive industries CEO of the CCSA. “Indeed, the industry is as part of normal UK power generation.The cleaner and an industry that can bring jobs already responding - in the last fortnight Electricity Market Reform (EMR) pro- and wealth to our shores. The CCS industry alone, plans for a new commercial-scale gramme gives developers of CCS power could be worth £6.5bn a year to the UK CCS project were announced and another projects more certainty, via a set of incen- economy by late next decade as we export proposal also announced major inward in- tives. These include: UK expertise and products." vestment from an international company • the prospect of long-term contracts The UK Carbon Capture and Storage bringing to seven the number of proposed that reflect the value of low-carbon Association (CCSA) also gave its support: large scale projects in the UK.” generation to the electricity market; “Today’s announcement sets out one of the • financial support for early stage CCS most comprehensive support packages for Support through the EMR projects that will help overcome the CCS in the world, sending a positive signal The CCS competition will help to get a proj- additional demonstration risks to the CCS industry, who are ready and wait- ect off the ground, but continuing support associated with these projects whilst ing to respond,” commented Jeff Chapman, will be necessary to make CCS sustainable ensuring that this support remains

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Projects and Policy

affordable for consumers; tion of cost competitive power generation benefits for all options • an Emission Performance Standard with CCS, decarbonise the UK’s electricity • air separation advances – energy (EPS) set at a level to limit the generation and industrial sectors, and pro- penalty benefits for oxy combustion emissions of new unabated coal fired vide a lasting legacy from this phase of the and to a lesser extent IGCC power stations, but with exemptions development of CCS. • improved solvents and sorbents – for plants that install CCS; National Grid is involved in a number resulting in smaller absorbers, lower • a Carbon Price Floor that, together of projects around the UK where it is demon- energy penalties for post combustion with the EU-Emissions Trading strating both its commitment to the cluster • gas recirculation for post combustion System, will penalise the combustion approach and its expertise in designing, con- gas – reduced absorber size and energy of fossil fuels. Again there are structing and operating multi-user pipeline penalties exemptions for CCS; systems. • economies in scale in absorbers – for • a requirement for all new fossil fuel On Humberside, through its Humber post combustion power stations to be Carbon Capture Gateway development, it is working with: • improvements in construction logistics Ready, to ensure that newly 2Co Energy on the Don Valley Power Proj- from learning and advanced constructed unabated fossil fuel power ect near Doncaster; Alstom, Drax and BOC simulations – for all options stations are able to fit CCS. Linde on the White Rose Project near Selby; • process optimisation for all technology and C.Gen Power on its North Killingholme routes CCS Research Centre Power Project. • reduced design margins for all systems The Engineering and Physical Sciences Re- At Grangemouth, west of Edinburgh, search Council (EPSRC) and DECC have it is working with Seattle-based Summit CCS Cost Reduction Task Force announced a £13 million investment to es- Power and Petrofac on the Caledonia Clean DECC has asked the Carbon Capture and tablish a UK CCS Research Centre. Energy Project. Storage Association to establish an industry- EPSRC will invest £10 million over a And on Teesside, it is part of a consor- led CCS Cost Reduction Task Force to work five-year period, with funding of £3 million tium alongside BOC, International Power, alongside the Office of Carbon Capture and from DECC to establish new capital facili- Fairfield Energy, Premier Oil and Progres- Storage to set out a path and action plan to ties that will support innovative research. sive Energy developing the Teesside Low reduce the costs of CCS. The new Centre, based at the Universi- Carbon Project. The objective of the Task Force is to ty of Edinburgh, will be a virtual network Alongside the carbon dioxide trans- advise Government and industry on reduc- where academics, industry, regulators and portation solutions, National Grid is also de- ing the unit cost of CCS so that it can com- others in the sector can collaborate on veloping a saline formation storage site in pete with other low carbon technologies in analysing problems and undertaking re- the southern North Sea, known as 5/42, the electricity market by the early 2020s. search. A key focus will be to maximise the which it intends to offer into the DECC com- The Task Force will: contribution of CCS to a low-carbon energy petition process and make available to emit- • build on work undertaken for DECC system for the UK. ters. National Grid believes the site offers se- to identify potential reductions in the Other institutions involved in the cen- cure and economic long term storage for cost of CCS; the scale of those tre are the Universities of Cambridge, Cran- CCS projects close to the largest source of reductions; and the actions required to field, Durham, Leeds, Newcastle, Notting- emitters in the UK. deliver those reductions; ham and Imperial College London, the Ply- • seek to gain a commitment from mouth Marine Laboratory and the British UK study on CCS cost reduction Industry on initiatives to reduce cost Geological Survey DECC has commissioned a report to analyse and develop advice setting out the The new capture research facilities will the scope for cost reduction by fuel/technol- steps industry and Government could allow UK scientists and engineers to work ogy and components for CCS. take to develop the most promising with industrial partners to develop improved It is expected that the study will give technologies and establish the right capture technologies. The facilities include: projections for a range of outcomes, illus- market framework and incentives to • pilot scale advanced testing facilities trating the uncertainty in both initial cost es- encourage industry to invest; and in Yorkshire, with a 1 tonne CO2 per timates and cost trajectory. However it is • produce a report to the CCS day amine capture facility likely to indicate the potential for a down- Development Forum setting out its • a mobile testing unit to allow a range ward trend in costs. findings and recommendations for of tests to be conducted on real power The analysis will be compiled from the action by Government and industry. station flue gases bottom up, attempting to identify the cost • advanced oxyfuel fluidised bed and drivers acting on the main components for The work of the Task Force will help to chemical looping pilot facilities.The each of the four main capture technologies, shape the future of the Government’s CCS Centre’s first goal will be to identify pipelines and the two main storage options. Programme and the Roadmap will be updat- further research needed to accelerate While the report will identify various tech- ed to reflect the findings and recommenda- CCS deployment. nical developments it is difficult to translate tions of the Task Force. this into cost changes as more efficient or An integrated pipeline network better performing equipment does not al- More information UK National Grid believes it will be far ways come at a lower cost. The numbers pro- www.decc.gov.uk more cost effective to provide single, large vided in the report are the best estimates pos- www.nao.org.uk scale pipelines, into which several carbon sible based on available data. www.ukccsrc.ac.uk emitters in a region can connect. Some examples of areas the report is www.ccsassociation.org This ‘cluster’ or ‘gateway’ approach likely to examine are: www.nationalgrid.com could deliver the UK Government’s aspira- • compressor advances – energy penalty

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Projects and Policy Global CCS Institute submissions to UNFCCC The Global CCS Institute is an accredited observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and recently made two submissions to the UNFCCC Secretariat on CCS related matters.

The first submission responds to Draft Deci- sion -/CMP.7 (paragraphs 4 to 6) and further Outstanding CCS issues in the CDM consideration by the Subsidiary Body for In its February 2011 submission, the Institute: Scientific and Technological Advice (SBS- • notes that the ultimate responsibility for complying with and meeting the TA) on the eligibility of transboundary CCS commitments of the UNFCCC ultimately rests with governments, and not with the projects in the Clean Development Mecha- legal private entities; nism (CDM), and the establishment of a • considers that to every extent possible, the sufficiency of applying existing CDM global reserve of certified emission reduc- modalities and procedures (Decision 3/CMP.1) should be tested; tion (CER) units for CCS projects in the • considers it to be in all CDM stakeholder interests to be satisfied with the rules of CDM. This submission is a complementary inclusion for CCS under CDM (and potentially other UNFCCC mechanisms); document to the Institute's February 2011 • believes that CCS can be readily accommodated within the CDM (ie. all issues raised submission on the limited range of outstand- in Paragraph 2 and 3 of Decision -/CMP.6 addressed) on the basis of already ing CCS issues in the CDM as identified by established technical and scientific data and analysis, methods and expert advice; SBSTA. • recommends that a one-size-fits-all approach be avoided where possible; The second submission responds to de- • views that where appropriate, a fit-for-purpose approach can sufficiently provide for: cisions arising from accurate; conservative, relevant, credible; reliable; complete; and verifiable data FCCC/AWGLCA/2011/CP.17 [paragraphs monitoring plans and measurement methodologies; 79 to 86] and deliberations of the Ad-hoc • acknowledges a large number of published peer reviewed expert reports that either Working Group on Long-term Collaborative contain approaches and recommendations to address and/or redress the limited Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) number of issues contained in Decision -/CMP.6; and on the future role and mitigation potential of • views that many of these issues can be readily addressed over the short term; and New Market Based Mechanisms (NMBMs). managed through either a policy oriented approach (such as best practice guidelines New market based mechanisms are econom- contained in the modalities and procedures), or within a host country’s legal ic instruments that can help enhance the arrangements. cost-effectiveness of actions in both devel- oped and developing countries to deliver re- al, permanent, additional and verified miti- age in another (refer page Chapter 5, 5.20). Actions (NAMAs). gation outcomes. They can also greatly as- The Institute suggests that the SBSTA NMBMs should be designed in such a sist developed countries to meet part of their might also consider playing a separate role way so as to not preclude critically impor- mitigation targets or commitments under the in encouraging those UNFCCC Parties who tant technologies that are capable of deliver- Convention. are also Party to the London Protocol to join ing the lion's share of the required global Norway in ratifying the London Protocol abatement within the critical time frame and CCS in the CDM Amendment to provide for the transbound- which have institutional legitimacy such as The Institute considers that enabling trans- ary movement of carbon dioxide for the pur- CCS. boundary CCS projects in the CDM should poses of geological storage in the sub-sea It seems clear that regardless of be given effect as soon as possible through bed. whether NMBMs are project based (ie. to the development of an appropriate suite of The Institute considers the financial generate offsets) or more sectorally based modalities and procedures (M&Ps). In the provisions contained within the M&Ps re- (i.e. sectors with emission reduction targets), case of CDM, eligible transboundary CCS cently adopted at COP 17 for CCS in the more ambitious emission reduction targets projects would necessarily involve the cap- CDM are adequate and that any need for a are needed in order to give a strong demand ture of CO2 in a developing country, for global reserve is unnecessary. signal to carbon markets and further motiva- storage in either an Annex I and/or another tion to Non Annex I countries to go beyond developing country. New Market Based Mechanisms UNFCCC funded mitigation actions. In terms of possible institutional proce- The Institute strongly supports the develop- dures to guide the inclusion of transbound- ment of new and scaled-up market mecha- ary CCS projects in the CDM, the 2006 In- nisms to complement the Kyoto Flexibility More information tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Mechanisms and to better support the strik- This article originally appeared as a blog (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse ing of commercially viable business cases to on the Global CCS Institute website by Gas Inventories (Chapter 5, CO2 Transport, assist the global deployment of CCS. At this Mark Bonner, Principal Manager of the Injection and Geological Storage), which time, it appears that the two most popular ap- Policy, Legal and Regulatory team at the were formally adopted at COP 17 for the proaches to establishing NMBMs, being dis- Institute. second commitment period, provides an out- cussed by Parties are: sectoral trading ap- If you would like to discuss these submis- line of approaches for the reporting of emis- proaches (that complement the project based sions further, please contact Mark Bonner. sions captured in one country and transport- mechanisms), and various crediting arrange- [email protected] ed across boundaries for the purpose of stor- ments for National Appropriate Mitigation

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Projects and Policy Policy, company and regulation news

Global CCS Institute and China sign North Sea oil fiefieldslds cooperation agreement DON VALLEY POWER PROJECT crude oil Delivering Carbon CapturCapturee www.globalccsinstitute.com & Storage for the UK The Global CCS Institute and China's De- partment of Climate Change, National 300km offshore CO2 Oil Yorkshire/Humberumbe CCS Cluster Development and Reform Commission power stations industrial emitters pipeline (DCC-NDRC) have signed a Memoran- CO2

CO2 used to recover dum of Understanding (MOU) regarding "hard to reach" oil & then permanently stored 3km potential to capturecaptuure 1818% cooperation on CCS. under the sea-bed UK annual emissionsssions The key areas of cooperation identified 650MW DON VALLEY POWER PROJECT under the MOU include: the promotion of Hatfield Colliery captured CO

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FNUTFWOJUOBMQSFXPQOPJ UOF infrastructurei erutcurtsarfni “The potential for deploying CCS in soursource:ce: wwwwww.2coenergy.com.2coenergyy..com source:sourrcce: www.2coenergy.com wwww.2coenergyy..com China is considerable given China’s large Final investment decision Construction completed Commissioning The Humber Cluster North Sea oil reserves extended to fossil energy use, significant coal reserves mid 2013 mid 2016 late 2016 2020 2040 and coal-based industries” said Brad Page, Please note this graphic is indicative only and not to scale CEO of the Global CCS Institute. “Today’s MOU signing signifies a con- crete step in fostering closer cooperation be- tween the DCC-NDRC and the Global CCS Samsung buys stake in UK CCS project bon Capture & Storage Delivery Compe- Institute and provides the framework for the www.2coenergy.com tition. delivery of future key joint initiatives,” he Samsung C&T (Construction & Trading) The funding is sought for the develop- said. has agreed to take a strategic 15 per cent ment of a low-carbon power plant — includ- A two-day course on CO2 Storage and stake in 2Co Energy’s Don Valley Power ing full-chain, commercial-scale carbon cap- Enhanced Oil Recovery is being held in con- Project. ture and storage — in the United Kingdom. junction with the MOU Signing Ceremony, The planned 650MW Don Valley Pow- The project would be named the Caledonia marking the first joint initiative under the er Project in South Yorkshire will aim to cap- Clean Energy Project. MOU. ture at least 90 per cent of its CO2 emissions The proposed power plant will be based “China attaches great importance to ad- and provide low carbon electricity to the at the Port of Grangemouth, west of Edin- dressing the climate challenge and CCS can equivalent of a million UK homes from the burgh on the Firth of Forth, Scotland. With be an important tool for controlling and re- end of 2016. It will use the captured CO2 to more than 90 percent carbon capture, the ducing carbon emissions. China attaches recover around 150 million barrels of North coal feedstock plant would generate low-car- great importance to the demonstration and Sea oil before permanently storing it in the bon electric power and produce hydrogen deployment of CCS technologies,” said Su oil fields. gas for commercial use. The CO2 captured Wei, Director General of DCC-NDRC. The oil produced could significantly re- will be transported via pipeline to St. Fergus “CCS still faces some challenges in- duce the overall cost of CCS to the UK. by National Grid Carbon and then trans- cluding the high cost and energy penalty and The deal will see Samsung C&T take ferred offshore for geological sequestration while costs are likely to come down as we on the Engineering, Procurement and Con- deep under the North Sea by Petrofac sub- improve our understanding and optimisation struction (EPC) contract for the onshore sidiary, CO2DeepStore. of the technology, the utilisation of CO2 for power project in South Yorkshire. The project site has been selected to EOR and other industrial purposes will be Total investment in the onshore power take advantage of synergies with other facil- important to our development pathway,” Su project is expected to be about £3billion. ities for industrial gas supply and to support added. Planning permission for the power plant has CO2 capture. The location provides the ben- NDRC is China’s lead governmental already been granted and 2Co Energy plans efit of being close to the UK North Sea for body responsible for formulating and imple- to start main construction in 2013 if its bid both CO2 storage and, later, enhanced oil re- menting strategies of national economic and to win a further round of EU and UK fund- covery opportunities, and enables the re-use social development, including addressing ing is successful. of existing pipelines. climate change and developing CCS. Summit Power is currently developing DCC-NDRC joined the Global CCS In- Summit Power to enter UK CCS a very similar project in Texas – the Texas stitute on behalf of the Government of the delivery competition Clean Energy Project (TCEP) – and intends People’s Republic of China as a Foundation www.summitpower.com to replicate many aspects of TCEP at Member in 2008 and formalised their mem- Summit Power Group has entered into an Grangemouth. Summit Power’s TCEP proj- bership by signing on as a Legal Member in agreement with National Grid and Petro- ect is a CCS project for the U.S. Department 2010. fac to seek funding under the UK’s Car- of Energy.

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Projects and Policy

UK launches £20 million CCS Oxyfuel combustion is a CCS technol- companies are already taking to build the competition ogy where fossil fuel is fired with oxygen in- next generation of power plants. EPA’s pro- www.decc.gov.uk stead of air, the flue gases then largely con- posal is in line with these investments and The UK Department of Energy & Climate sist of CO2 and water vapour so that CO2 will ensure that this progress toward a clean- Change (DECC) is launching a competi- purification is more easily achieved. er, safer and more modern power sector con- tion worth up to £20 million to fund the A major challenge exists to lower the tinues. development of innovations in CCS tech- resulting flame temperatures which can be The proposed standards can be met by nology. achieved through recycle of the flue gases. a range of power facilities burning different Bids are being invited to develop better This mitigates the flame temperature mak- fossil fuels, including natural gas technolo- and cheaper CCS components and systems ing oxyfuel combustion suitable for retrofit gies that are already widespread, as well as for pilot scale demonstration. These will sup- or new-build coal power plant. Other advan- coal with technologies to reduce carbon port the development of CCS, which is cru- tages include virtually zero emissions of the emissions. Even without today’s action, the cial if the UK is to meet its climate change oxides of nitrogen and a significantly small- power plants that are currently projected to targets and reduce emissions. er carbon capture plant. be built going forward would already com- The innovations could be incorporated Oxyfuel combustion has been demon- ply with the standard. As a result, EPA does into the UK supply chain and reduce the cost strated at approximately 40MWt but com- not project additional cost for industry to of future commercial CCS deployment in the mercial-scale demonstration is the next nec- comply with this standard. UK, for an industry which is estimated to be essary step and there are significant barriers Prior to developing this standard, EPA worth as much as £6.5 billion a year by the to this happening. engaged in an extensive and open public late 2020s. Led by the University of Glamorgan, process to gather the latest information to aid This £20 million competition is in ad- the project will be undertaken by a consor- in developing a carbon pollution standard for dition to the £1 billion the UK has separate- tium of 19 European higher education insti- new power plants. The agency is seeking ad- ly committed to funding commercial scale tutions, research centres and industrial part- ditional comment and information, includ- CCS projects, under DECC’s CCS Commer- ners. ing public hearings, and will take that input cialisation programme. A competition for fully into account as it completes the rule- that programme will be launched in the com- EPA proposes first carbon pollution making process. EPA’s comment period will ing weeks. standard for future power plants be open for 60 days following publication in The £20 million is part of a four year, www.epa.gov the Federal Register. £125 million Government-led CCS research The U.S. Environmental Protection and development programme. This cross- Agency (EPA) today proposed the first Canadian government provides Government programme is delivered by the Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollu- $14million funding for Aquistore Department of Energy and Climate Change, tion from new power plants. project the Technology Strategy Board, the Energy The rule proposed only concerns new www.ptrc.ca Technologies Institute and the Research generating units that will be built in the fu- The Government of Canada is contribut- Councils. ture, and does not apply to existing units al- ing $9 million through its ecoENERGY ready operating or units that will start con- Technology Initiative and $5 million University of Glamorgan secures €9 struction over the next 12 months. through Sustainable Development Tech- million for CCS research “Today we’re taking a common-sense nology Canada (SDTC) to the Aquistore www.glam.ac.uk step to reduce pollution in our air, protect the Project. The University of Glamorgan has secured planet for our children, and move us into a Aquistore, a CO2 storage project locat- over €9 million from the European Com- new era of American energy,” said EPA Ad- ed near Estevan, Saskatchewan, is being mission for a research project which will ministrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Right now there managed by the Petroleum Technology Re- investigate how coal can be burnt so as to are no limits to the amount of carbon pollu- search Centre (PTRC) in collaboration with facilitate CCS. tion that future power plants will be able to partners in the private sector and academia. The Reliable and Efficient Combustion put into our skies – and the health and eco- The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment of Oxygen/Coal/Recycled Flue Gas Mix- nomic threats of a changing climate contin- is also investing $5 million through its Go tures project (RELCOM) is designed to un- ue to grow. We’re putting in place a standard Green Fund. dertake a series of applied research, devel- that relies on the use of clean, American The project seeks to demonstrate that opment and demonstration activities involv- made technology to tackle a challenge that storing CO2 underground in a brine and ing both experimental studies and modelling we can’t leave to our kids and grandkids.” sandstone water formation is a safe, work- work to enable full-scale early demonstra- Currently, there is no uniform national able solution. It is anticipated that captured tion oxyfuel plant to be designed and speci- limit on the amount of carbon pollution new CO2 from SaskPower’s Boundary Dam fied. power plants can emit. As a direct result of Power Station will be used. Professor Steve Wilcox of the Faculty the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling, EPA in “This federal and provincial support to of Advanced Technology who is leading the 2009 determined that greenhouse gas pollu- undertake independent research is essential project said, “Improvement of cycle efficien- tion threatens Americans’ health and welfare for the future of carbon capture and storage cy and increased use of biomass help to re- by leading to long lasting changes in our cli- advancement in Canada and the world,” said duce CO2 emissions in the near term, but the mate that can have a range of negative ef- Malcolm Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of longer term need to move to near-zero emis- fects on human health and the environment. PTRC. “The learnings from Aquistore will sion power generation will require the de- The proposed standard is flexible and be transferable to industry and governments ployment of carbon capture and storage would help minimize carbon pollution globally and will help inform the creation of (CCS) technologies for the fossil fuel gener- through the deployment of the same types of industry-wide CO2 capture and storage reg- ation of electricity.” modern technologies and steps that power ulations and policies.”

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Capture and Conversion Capture news

Mitsubishi to build Qatar CO2 recovery Other important applications possible are project dedicated to post-combustion CO2 plant carbon capture and storage (CCS) and en- capture has been held at the Solaize site www.mhi.co.jp hanced oil recovery (EOR). of IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is to The objectives of the Octavius project build, through subsidiary MHI Industrial SaskPower & Hitachi to build CCS test are to: Engineering & Services (MIES), a large- facility • prepare for the first CCS scale CO2 recovery plant for Qatar Fuel www.saskpowercarboncapture.com demonstrations on a thermal power Additives Co (QAFAC), a major fuel ad- SaskPower and Hitachi Ltd are partner- plant scale; ditive producer in Qatar. ing to construct a $60 million carbon cap- • implement first-generation CO2 The CO2, which is to be recovered at ture test facility (CCTF) at SaskPower’s capture processes using amine-type up to 500 tons per day will be used to in- Shand Power Station in southeastern solvents, and crease production of methanol. This is the Saskatchewan. • demonstrate the DMX™ second- first overseas order for an MHI CO2 recov- The CCTF will allow international de- generation post-combustion capture ery plant specifically targeted at raising velopers to fully evaluate performance of process resulting from IFPEN research methanol production. Construction of the their systems to capture carbon dioxide on an industrial scale. plant should be completed in October 2014. emissions from coal-fired thermal power The CO2 recovery plant, which will be plants. Three CO2 capture pilot units – the built within QAFAC's methanol production SaskPower and Hitachi will each con- Cato pilot unit in Maasvlakte (Netherlands), plant near Doha, will capture CO2 from tribute approximately $30 million to the the Enel pilot unit in Brindisi (Italy) and the combustion exhaust gas emitted in the CCTF, with SaskPower acting as owner/op- EnBW pilot unit in Heilbronn (Germany) – methanol production process. The CO2 sep- erator. Construction will begin in late 2012 will be used to test the operability and flexi- arated and recovered from the flue gas using or early 2013, with a scheduled completion bility of these first-generation processes. MHI's proprietary KS-1™ solvent will be date of summer 2014. Hitachi will supply The demonstration of the DMX™ sec- provided as feedstock for boosting methanol their skilled process development team, as ond-generation post-combustion capture production. well as core process equipment from their process will be conducted at the Brindisi In conjunction with plant order, MHI Saskatoon manufacturing facility. thermal power plant on the Enel pilot unit, will license its CO2 recovery technology to Hitachi’s proprietary amine technology capable of capturing up to 2.25 tCO2/h on QAFAC through MIES. MIES will be re- will be the first technology tested at the coal combustion flue gases. sponsible for engineering, procurement and CCTF. SaskPower expects to evaluate a Coordinated by IFPEN, Octavius construction (EPC), and Mitsubishi Corpo- number of current and emerging carbon cap- brings together 17 partners from the worlds ration will handle the trade particulars. ture technologies over the life of the facility. of research and industry and is scheduled to Although MHI has previously licensed The CCTF has been built to accommodate a last 5 years. The project has a total budget its CO2 recovery technology to many plants wide range of test configurations, ensuring of €13.5 million, €8 million of which will be around the world, the QAFAC order repre- it remain a viable facility for many years. provided by the European Commission. sents only the third licensing-plus-EPC or- In addition to the CCTF, SaskPower der for one of its CO2 recovery plants. will be among the first electric utilities in the CO2 Capture Project publishes MHI's CO2 recovery technology is world to operate a commercial-scale power Stakeholder Issues report known as the KM CDR Process®. It uses the plant with a fully-integrated carbon capture www.co2captureproject.com company's proprietary KS-1 solvent for CO2 and storage operating system. The $1.24 bil- The CO2 Capture Project has made avail- absorption and desorption, which MHI and lion project to rebuild a coal-fired unit at the able findings from its recent CCS Stake- Kansai Electric Power developed jointly. To Boundary Dam Power Station and equip it holder Issues Review and Analysis Re- date MHI has delivered nine commercial with a fully-integrated carbon capture sys- port. CO2 recovery plants in Japan and other tem will allow for the generation of low- The report identifies and evaluates key countries, and another plant is currently un- emission electricity and the capture of car- concerns amongst NGOs, the public and der construction. bon dioxide for oil extraction. politicians at both a local and a global level, In addition to urea and methanol pro- to gain greater understanding of the sensitiv- duction, CO2 recovery technology can be European Octavius project launched ities surrounding CCS projects. It focuses on employed in other chemical applications www.ifpenergiesnouvelles.com Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU and the such as production of dimethyl ether (DME). The inaugural meeting of the Octavius USA.

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Transport and Storage CO2 storage with geothermal energy production HMC’s proprietary carbon dioxide plume geothermal (CPG) technology has the potential to enhance the feasibility and economic viability of carbon capture and geologic storage by offsetting or eliminating the cost of CCS through generation of renewable geothermal electricity. By Stephen O’Rourke, President, Heat Mining Company LLC (HMC); Kenneth Carpenter, Managing Partner, HMC; Dr. Jimmy B. Randolph, HMC; and Dr. Martin O. Saar, University of Minnesota (UMN)

The release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere from hu-

Direct CO2 capture man activity is considered by many experts power District Binary power as the main driver of current global warm- system heating system CO2 source ing (IPCC, 2007). One option for reducing (fossil fuel power plant, biofuel plant, etc) this release is to capture CO2 at stationary ConfiningConfiCoCo uni (e.g.,nnfnfi shale) (e.g.,finfifini shale) (e(ee.g niini locations where it is emitted, such as fossil- .g ngnggu un ,,s uun shshalhha nin alle) it fuel-burning power plants, then inject and e)) EnhancedEnhancEEn hydrocarbon nnh permanently store it as supercritical CO2 in hah recoveryancaannncednc (EOR) hydrochydroca recoveryrerecoveryece cedcec (EOR)(EO hy ccoovo eedddh partially depleted hydrocarbon formations vvee hhy rryyy( yydddr ((EEOE rroooc (enhanced oil recovery, EOR) and deep OOR cac RR) arbararbr ConfiningConfiCCo ) unitbob on onon saline (and thus largely unusable) aquifers. nfnfifi nnii e nngg uni mme uuni umel However, the cost of such carbon cap- nii aal SalineSaliSSa aqui t 2 plumemmamal alalialinlil ininen a erm e aqu CO ture and storage (CCS) is high (IEA, 2010) a qququiui geothermaleothermal iferffe and large-scale implementation is not eco- erer

CrystalliC ) nomically feasible unless stored carbon has ryr G ysysst P tataalall CPC llllil plumel (CPG)(C a monetary value (for example in a carbon inne basemb 2 S eeb GGS bab CO EGSEEG asemaasses he cap and trade market) or can be used to gen- em eenentntn geothermal ((CPG) erate revenue. t Heat Mining Company LLC's (HMC) Cooling patent-pending process of using CO2 as the tower

subsurface working fluid in geothermal pow- Heat Expansion exchanger er generation at typical CCS or EOR sites device/generator (i.e., naturally permeable and porous forma- tions in sedimentary basins) could be the Figure 1 - Potential implementations of CO2 based geothermal systems, including CPG in saline first step toward an economical carbon-neu- aquifers or as a component of EOR projects (modified after Randolph and Saar, 2011) tral or even carbon-negative power industry. This process would help reduce point-source CO2 emissions and potentially produce that may be present, expands to turn a tur- saline and thus generally considered non- enough power to offset the cost of CCS or bine, and is then condensed in a heat ex- potable. Formations of interest for CPG are even make it a profitable activity. changer before being reinjected into the sub- isolated from surface and potable-water surface, closing the loop so that no CO2 is aquifers by one or more overlaying layers of HMC’s CPG technology released to the atmosphere (Fig. 1). low-permeability caprocks. In fact, many HMC’s CPG technology was developed at Alternatively, in an indirect system constrained sedimentary formations have the University of Minnesota by Dr.'s Martin (useful if significant free-phase water is trapped hydrocarbons and/or naturally oc- O. Saar, Jimmy B. Randolph, and Thomas present), the heated CO2 is passed through a curring CO2 for millions of years. Kuehn with the support of the Institute for heat exchanger that provides thermal energy Renewable Energy and the Environment to, for example, an organic Rankine cycle Efficiency of CPG systems (IREE). It uses CO2 captured from an emit- power system. Once the power loop is filled CPG systems are expected to operate at 1.5 ter or injected into hydrocarbon reservoirs with CO2, 100% of the CO2 mass coming to 4 times the electricity-production efficien- from EOR activities to generate clean, re- from the emitter is permanently sequestered cy of conventional water-based geothermal newable electricity while geologically se- underground. Several variations, including systems, reservoir temperature, pressure and questering the CO2. cogeneration of both electricity and heat, can permeability being equal. For example, a The CO2 is compressed and injected be envisioned. CPG system using a 100 °C, 2.5 km deep into a deep reservoir. After being geother- In all CPG operations, CO2 is injected reservoir (low to moderate geothermal gradi- mally heated, the CO2 rises buoyantly and into geologic formations under supercritical ent) with permeability of 50 mD (moderately pools below a caprock. The heated CO2 is conditions (liquid-like density, gas-like vis- permeable sedimentary formation) operates produced to the surface through a well, is cosity) at depths of 0.8 to 5 km. At such at 11.8 percent efficiency of energy conver- separated from any water or hydrocarbons depths, water in aquifers is typically highly sion from geothermal heat to electricity.

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Transport and Storage

In comparison, the same formation op- + CO2. This pressure differential allows CO2 erating a binary power system on native for- Geology – Temperature and pressure are es- geothermal systems to use direct power con- mation water/brine yields 3.4 percent energy tablished by the depth and size of the EOR version equipment even at low formation conversion efficiency. All calculations in- reservoirs. A 50 °C difference between pro- temperatures, as opposed to the binary clude losses due to friction, pumping if nec- duced fluid and surface temperatures is gen- equipment with a heat exchanger required essary, and losses in the power system; how- erally required to generate greater than 1 for comparable water-based systems. The ever, note that site-specific geologic condi- MW of power. Total power generation de- heat exchangers in conventional binary wa- tions will affect efficiency. pends on the volume of CO2 emplaced at ter-based geothermal systems constitute An operating CPG system will extract depth and the ratio of CO2 to oil + water in much of their capital and operational cost less heat energy from a formation than a the produced flow. The high mobility of CO2 and operational efficiency loss. comparable water-based system while pro- generally ensures that the system will Thus, direct CO2 geothermal systems ducing more electricity or heat for space/wa- achieve better flow than any oil in the field. may cost less than half of what conventional ter use, extending the longevity of a given water-based binary systems cost (U.S. De- geologic unit. CPG efficiency is particularly Small-to-moderate storage of partment of Energy Geothermal Peer Review high in moderate temperature (70–150 °C) electrical power at wind farms Meeting, June 2011). and tight (5–500 mDarcy) formations, where CO2 – A relatively small amount of CO2 CPG systems avoid use of clean wa- water-based geothermal is rarely viable be- may be required. Preferably, CO2 is already ter, an increasingly limited resource, for ge- cause of low power conversion efficiencies in the ground or a CO2 source is located othermal development. Moreover, they se- and high parasitic pumping power require- nearby. Alternatively, CO2 could be stored quester anthropogenic CO2, offsetting the ments. in a surface tank. cost of CO2 storage through energy sales In contrast, as a result of CO2’s ther- Geology – Low required aquifer tempera- and providing electricity for CO2 storage. modynamic properties (low viscosity at rel- tures and poor permeability permit applica- Concurrently, CPG would provide the poten- atively high densities and simultaneous high tion over a wide range of geological condi- tial for generating revenue from elimination expansivity), CPG does not require pumping tions. A produced fluid temperature that is of atmospheric CO2 emissions, depending except at extremely low formation perme- 10 °C above atmospheric conditions may al- on local policies. abilities of less than 0.5 mD (Randolph and low 100 percent or greater return of stored Moreover, CO2 that contains no free- Saar, 2011). Hence, overall system efficien- energy. Produced fluid temperatures more phase water has very low mineral solubility cies for CPG at low temperatures are as high than 25 °C above surface temperatures result and reactivity, unlike pure water. In CO2 ge- as traditional water-based systems at much in significantly greater electricity production othermal operations in which production greater temperatures. than the amount stored. Shallow depths (0.5 wells tap into an established CO2 plume, HMC is developing applications of to 2km, below lowest potable aquifer) and produced fluids are largely nonreactive, min- CPG technology for three areas of energy low permeabilities (0.5 mD and above) are imizing scaling and degradation of power production: viable. equipment. It will not always be possible to • large-scale commercial electrical ensure that there is no produced water, and production at CCS sites Benefits of using CO2 rather than CO2 with free phase water will result in a • moderate-scale electrical production at native reservoir water/brine as the mild acid. However, acidic production fluid EOR sites to power operations subsurface geothermal heat exchange is well understood in conventional geother- • small to moderate storage of electrical fluid mal developments and can be dealt with. power at wind farms CO2 mobility (fluid density divided by dy- namic viscosity) at the subsurface tempera- Approach for controlling the Large-scale commercial electrical ture and pressure conditions of interest is subsurface production at CCS sites substantially greater than the mobility of CPG sites will be chosen and developed to CO2 – In the best-case scenario, CO2 is in pure water (up to 5 times) and brine (up to maximize predictability of CO2 plume evo- the ground or sequestration is planned. Oth- 10 times). Mobility is the tendency of a flu- lution. For example, preferable early-stage erwise, proximity to a CO2 source is desired. id to preserve momentum; supercritical reservoirs will contain either domes or in- Geology – CPG allows a wider range of ge- CO2, with its liquid-like density but gas-like clined structures. Plume evolution and shape ologic conditions for viable power produc- viscosity, moves much more effectively can also be controlled by dynamic reservoir tion than conventional geothermal. Temper- through a geologic formation than does wa- management – strategically pumping and atures above 70 °C can be used for commer- ter. Therefore, CO2 efficiently “mines” geo- reinjecting native formation fluid from a cial electrical power generation. Reservoir logic heat and requires little pumping to es- reservoir at some distance from the plume to depth should be 0.8 to 5 km in a constrained tablish fluid flow. High CO2 mobility more control the reservoir pressure field and asso- aquifer below the lowest fresh water aquifer. than compensates for the lower heat capaci- ciated plume movement. Dynamic reservoir With permeability above 5 mD, no produc- ty of CO2 compared to water. management is an area of active research in tion pumping is required. High CO2 expansivity with increases the U.S. (e.g., at Lawrence Livermore Na- in temperature, together with high fluid mo- tional Lab). Moderate scale electrical production bility, generally eliminates the need for fluid at EOR sites to power operations pumping (a significant parasitic power draw CPG potential CO2 – Ideally, CO2 has largely displaced all in water-based geothermal systems) within Earth’s continental crust temperature in- or most oil at a site, permitting use of a CO2 the CPG power cycle. High CO2 compress- creases ~30–35 °C per kilometer depth on turbine. Otherwise a binary power system ibility produces large (70 bar or greater) average (Pollack et al., 1993), and signifi- must be used, possibly in conjunction with pressure differences between injection and cantly more in geothermally active regions. surface separation, which can handle a pro- production wellheads, providing substantial This geothermal resource could be tapped to duced fluid stream of water + hydrocarbons potential for power generation. provide as much as 200,000 EJ of electrical

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Transport and Storage

energy in the United States – 2,000 times the othermal resources exist in Alaska and Johnson (1993), Heat-flow from the Earth’s total 2005 U.S. energy consumption (Tester Hawaii as well as in many regions world- interior: Analysis of the global data set. Rev et al., 2006). CPG is particularly capable of wide, particularly Canada, Australia, Europe, Geophys 31 (3):267–280. harvesting geothermal energy from areas not China, and Indonesia. Randolph, J.B., and M.O. Saar (2011), viable for conventional technologies. Combining geothermal energy capture with With reasonable assumptions, CPG has Summary – Why CPG? geologic carbon dioxide sequestration, Geo- the potential to produce 150 GW of power, • Negative atmospheric CO2 emissions phys. Res. Lett., 38, L10401, and possibly much more, in the U.S. To de- • High power system efficiency doi:10.1029/2011GL047265. termine this estimate, we overlaid U.S. tem- • High fluid mobility = efficient Tester, J. W., et al. (2006), The future perature at 2.5 km depth with sedimentary geothermal heat mining of geothermal energy: Impact of enhanced basins suitable for CPG development. We • Thermosyphon = minimal or no geothermal systems (EGS) on the United then assumed CPG installation over 4 per- parasitic power losses States in the 21st century, Rep. INL/EXT-06- cent of this suitable space and 2.5 MW (a • Patented CPG turbine and modeling 11746, Mass. Inst. of Technol., Cambridge. very small system) per installation. technologies 372 pages. Note that this estimate is conservative; it does not include the possibility for verti- References cally layering CPG installations within a sin- IPCC (2007), Contribution of Working More information gle formation, vertically layering separate Group I to the 4th Assessment Report of the Anyone interested in producing or storing aquifers at a given map-view location, or us- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change power from a saline aquifer using CO2 as ing sedimentary formations shallower or (IPCC), 996 pp., Cambridge University the working fluid is welcome to contact deeper than 2.5 km (e.g., the Kennedy Basin Press. HMC for information on planning and in South Dakota) or larger power systems IEA (International Energy Agency), completing a CPG project: (which could be installed at all sites, partic- Energy Technology Perspectives 2010, Sce- Stephen O’Rourke ularly those with temperatures >100 °C). narios & Strategies to 2050, Part 1, (2010), [email protected] Furthermore, only the contiguous U.S. is in- p.123. www.heatmining-sd.com cluded in this estimate, while significant ge- Pollack, H.N., S. J. Hurter, and J.R.

CO2 Capture Project CO2 impurities study

The CO2 Capture Project (CCP) has completed the first phase of a study into the impact of CO2 impurities on geological storage of CO2. The potential for cost savings by delivering less pure CO2 streams to the storage reservoir are significant if it can be shown that these impurities do not adversely impact injectivity, conformance or containment.

Through reservoir simulation and laboratory experiments, the CCP is building an under- 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.48 standing of the potential impacts to storage 0.61 0.54 0.43 containment as a result of impure CO2 0.37 0.25 0.47 0.25 streams. 0.32 0.75 0.40 0.75 The study is being undertaken in con- 0.32 0.27 junction with the Bureau for Economic Ge- N N 2 2 2 0.25 2 0.5 0.5 ology at the University of Texas at Austin. CO CO 0.5 0.18 0.5 The CO2 streams captured from indus- trial emissions sources as part of Carbon 0.75 0.75

Capture and Storage (CCS) projects are ex- 0.25 0.25 pected to contain various impurities depend- ing on the process and extent of post-capture 1.00 1.00

gas treatment. The potential for cost savings 0.00 0.00 by delivering less pure CO2 streams to the 0.00 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.00 0.00 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.00 O O storage reservoir are substantial if, trans- 2 2 portation notwithstanding, it can be shown Gas Phase Density (kg/L) Gas Phase Viscosity (cP) that these impurities do not adversely impact FIG1: CO2 impurities impact on mixed gas plume density and viscosity injectivity, conformance or containment. In all cases, viscosity and density of the mixtures are lower than that of pure CO Non-compressible gases (e.g. N2, CH4, 2 (only SO2 would have the opposite impact). Figure 1 displays mixture density Ar) would be expected to impact flow prop- (left) and viscosity (right) properties expected at ~1.5 km (~5000 ft) deep U.S. erties and dynamics of the CO2 stream Gulf Coast reservoir at 58ºC (135ºF) and 17 MPa (2500 psi) whereas reactive gases (e.g. CO, SOx) may

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Transport and Storage

result in dissolution or precipitation of min- FIG 2: CO2-stream impurities impact

on lateral extent of CO2 plume erals which could impact reservoir or seal (shallow depth - axes in feet)

permeability and mechanical strength. The Pure CO2 is injected in the lower part of a sloping aquifer for 30 years at a rate behavior of other gases (e.g. H2, O2) is like- of 0.74 million m3/day (26 MMSCFD)

(top left). The CO2 plume migrates ly to be complex in terms of plume dynam- upward, assuming homogeneous

ics and reactivity. Through reservoir simula- the top of the formation. Once the top is reached, the plume progresses up dip tion and laboratory experiments, the CO2 until the injected material is exhausted and entirely trapped through residual Impurities Study aims to understand poten- saturation and dissolution (chart bottom After 13 years After 13 years

left). For the 81mol% CO2 (N2,15%; O2, tial impacts and complications to storage 2.1%; Ar, 1.7%) impurity case (top right) containment as a result of variously impure migration is faster because mixtures or non compressible gases always CO2 streams. have a lower density (and thus greater buoyancy) and viscosity than pure CO2. The project is divided into three phases: After 13 years of injection, the mixed-gas CO2 has already reach the top of the

formation whereas pure CO2 has not (top

right and left, respectively). At 100 years G as Saturation

1) Reservoir Simulation - Develop after start of injection, mixed-gas CO2 static reservoir models encompassing a (bottom right) has advanced further than pure CO2 (bottom left) and ultimately

mixed-gas CO2 is trapped faster with no range of heterogeneity. Simulate injection remaining mobile gas than pure CO . After 100 years After 100 years 2 Pure CO CO with impurities and plume migration of CO2 streams with 2 2 single and multiple non-compressible gas impurities with the following maximum con- centrations (mol%): N2 (15), O2 (5), Ar (5) pressure, temperature, and salinity condi- ly the case regardless of reservoir hetero- with CH4 considered as an impurity ’ex- tions. geneity and complexity although hetero- solved’ from brine. Plume behavior metrics Impurities impact static capacity geneity tends to moderate the impact of im- (rate of vertical ascent, lateral extent and through variations in density and viscosity purities on plume extent. The modeling also time for CO2 trapping) were examined for of the CO2-rich mixture. A lower density im- shows differential dissolution at the front low dip reservoir models at two depths: 1.5 pacts CO2 capacity not only because of the and edges of the plume. In general, there is and 3 km (~5000 and 10,000ft, called ‘shal- smaller fraction injected and space needed a trade-off between larger plume lateral ex- low’ and ‘deep’ respectively) and at temper- for storing impurities but also because of the tent due to the presence of impurities and de- atures of 60°C and 125°C and total dissolved generally lower density of the impurities at creased risk owing to faster trapping (pres- solids concentrations of 100,000 and the same conditions. An approximate proxy sure management). 180,000 mg/liter, respectively. for capacity change owing to impurities is given by the density ratio. The loss in capac- Implications for cost-effectiveness and 2) Static Experiments - Conduct batch ity can be as high as >50% at very shallow security of CCS autoclave experiments using pure CO2 and depths (~3000 ft, CO2 and 15% molar N2) From these findings, the implications for the CO2:O2 (95:5mol%) with reaction model- but the difference quickly decreases with cost of capture and the reliability of long ing of other species SOx (0.15mol%), CO depth. Similarly, mass injectivity, measuring term geological storage could be significant. (2mol%), and H2 (0.4mol%). Detailed pre- how CO2 can be injected (represent- Long term reliability of CO2 storage seems and post-reaction water chemistry and rock ed by the proxy metric of density over vis- unlikely to be compromised by the presence petrographic, petrophysical and chemical cosity ratio), also shows a decreased value of impurities in the CO2 stream – indeed analyses will be used to document alteration at shallow depths that recovers with increas- trapping timescales may be reduced in many for the CO2 and O2 and to ‘history match’ ing depth. cases, thereby decreasing risk to contain- the experiments using batch geochemical Dynamic reservoir simulations re- ment. numerical code. vealed that impurities impact CO2 plume However, given that the presence of im- shape (rate of vertical ascent and lateral ex- purities is likely to impact the behavior of 3) Integration – Flow and geochemi- tent) more markedly at shallow depths where the CO2-dominated plume, more attention cal results will be integrated into a frame- the contrast in density and viscosity with to reservoir modelling prior to injection, work to assess the impact of impurities on pure CO2 is at its largest (Figure 2). For ex- plume management and surveillance during plume shape and evolution, CO2 storage ca- ample, a 4% mole fraction impurity in a bi- operations should be factored into commer- pacity, storage reservoir integrity and well nary system is sufficient to increase plume cial project planning. injectivity. length in ‘shallow’ low-dip sloping layers by The later phases - static experiments 25%, whereas a mole fraction of 9 to 15%, and integration - are expected to be complet- Phase One results - reservoir depending on the component, is needed to ed later this year. simulation create the same impact in a ‘deep’ system. It Flow Dynamics also revealed that because O2, N2, and Ar Because of the lack of accurate data on vis- have similar physical properties, their impact cosity and density, a series of experiments on CO2-dominated mixtures is comparable, More information was performed at selected pressures and particularly at low concentrations (e.g., 2 The CO2 Capture Project (CCP) is a temperatures and for selected multi-compo- mol%), thus they can be merged in one partnership of several major energy nent gas mixtures to accurately determine unique component with properties of N2 companies working together to advance their physical characteristics (PVT data) during the numerical modelling. the technologies that will underpin the (Figure 1). In all cases, plume extent is greater deployment of industrial-scale CO2 cap- In addition, a comprehensive literature when impurities are present although resid- ture and storage. audit helped in estimating aqueous solubili- ual trapping (retention in pores by capillary www.co2captureproject.com ty of the mixture components at various forces) occurs more rapidly. This is general-

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Transport and Storage CCS measurement challenges

One of the remaining challenges to be overcome in establishing CCS as a practical operational process is effective measurement and monitoring of the CO2 stream. John Morgan, Carbon Capture & Storage Business Manager, and Philip Cherukara, Consultant for Sustainable Energy, NEL

Energy demand is predicted to double over the next two decades, with fossil fuels set to supply more than half of the world’s energy needs through to 2030. This means that Car- bon Capture and Storage (CCS) will play a prominent role in the abatement of anthro- pogenic CO2 emissions as part of a secure and sustainable global energy supply. One of the many technical challenges to be overcome in establishing CCS as a practical operational process is effective measurement and monitoring. This will be a key element of the CCS regulatory frame- work (as reflected in the EU CCS Directive) which calls for CO2 flow measurement, composition measurement, leak detection and quantification across the full CCS chain. Accurate measurement will be essential to environmental and safety needs and funda- mental in reducing financial exposure in CO2 trading schemes. To this end, the Euro- pean Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines set stringent measurement and monitoring criteria. Transportation of the CO2 to its final storage destination is claimed to be more economical by pipeline, especially if cluster networks are formed for multiple emitters. means that phase changes and multiphase urement, physical properties measurement Typically dedicated CO2 pipelines are de- flow occurring at measurement points will and leakage detection & quantification. signed to transport CO2 well above critical have a detrimental effect on measurement pressure, so that it will be in dense phase, accuracy, especially when most measure- Flow measurement which means pipelines will be operating ment devices are designed to operate only in Flow metering will be necessary for regula- away from the phase boundary. However, in single phase. tory measurement under the EU ETS. This many instances, existing pipelines will be Measurement would be more accurate includes custody transfer/fiscal metering utilised for transportation which do not per- if CO2 was being transported in only (where there is a transfer of ownership in the mit operations at pressures well above criti- gaseous phase or single phase (at all times pipeline); leakage detection; and metering cal pressures. and throughout the transportation system). the various processes across the CCS net- Compared to other substances that are However, CO2 is usually only transported in work, including controlling the volume of transported by pipeline (e.g. oil, natural gas the gaseous phase when low volumes of CO2 being injected into the geological stor- and water), CO2 is unusual because its criti- CO2 have to be transported or if the pipeline age formation. Under the EU ETS, the mass cal temperature lies close to ambient temper- is being reused. In addition, if the transport- of annually transferred CO2 is required to be ature, which is the normal operating condi- ed fluid contains 100 per cent CO2 i.e. no determined within a maximum uncertainty tion and the region where most industrial impurities, higher accuracy could be of less than 1.5 per cent. For custody trans- processes are carried out. This means that achieved. This is because impurities could fer purposes the accuracy requirements may even small changes in pressure and tempera- enter the system easily because pipeline sys- be even higher. ture may lead to rapid and substantial tems will have inputs from multiple capture To put the importance of accurate flow changes in the physical properties of CO2 , plants with varying compositions of CO2 measurement into perspective, consider the such as phase, density and compressibility. streams. UK’s largest power station, which emits ap- Therefore, not only is there a risk of However, this ideal scenario simply proximately 22 million tonnes of CO2 per changing between phases, but also when op- doesn’t exist, meaning measurement chal- annum. Each percentage of uncertainty in erating on or close to a phase boundary, mul- lenges must be addressed urgently, includ- flow measurement could result in a tiphase flow conditions can arise. This ing flow measurement, composition meas- £1.15million exposure in the trading scheme,

20 carbon capture journal - May - June 2012 CCJ27a_Layout 1 21/04/2012 16:13 Page 21

Transport and Storage

based on a carbon trading price of £5.20 / + #, tonne as on 30th March 2012. # It is also clearly understood that there -.. is an urgent need to address the issues sur- rounding flow measurement in CO2 trans-  portation. One of the primary outcomes of  such a programme would be the fiscal me- 7 E 22 tering of CO2 with a maximum measure-  ment uncertainty of +/- 1.5 per cent. Of  course, in order to meet these targets, the be- 7c FhE 22 haviour of CO2 in transportation systems has  to be understood. The specifications of the  fluid and accurate accounting of the CO2 through all sections of CCS schemes must /. A EF F  also be achieved. 52cc 02 3 The table opposite summarises the  technologies that are currently available for E2@ CO2 flow measurement. It also describes the 5 F 9FE 0 Rc 2 iEp Q advantages and disadvantages of each type  of technology. )Q 0 FEiEp  0 Composition of the CO2 stream  Composition measurement is necessary to 0$3  determine the concentration of CO2 and to 2 detect contaminants present in the CO2 2 stream. This information is essential in order q to understand the physical properties, chem- 7@ F r 0 R2c R 2 istry and behaviour of the CO2 mixture 2 Chemical analysis of injected fluid and gas . analysis, using gas chromatographs and  EF FEir 0 R2c 02 spectrometers, can be used for composition 2 0 322 2 analysis. 2 The composition of the CO2 stream will, amongst other things, affect the densi- Table 1 - summary of potential CO2 flow meters ty, compressibility and phase envelope of the gas or liquid. Therefore, in order to establish the necessary pressures and temperatures re- 10 per cent in density. However, without ac- tify any and all leakage, and this is an area quired to maintain a stable phase and eco- curate knowledge of density, it will not be which requires urgent attention. nomical transfer, knowledge of the composi- possible to convert volumetric flow to mass For pipelines, it is likely that a combi- tion is vital. Without this knowledge it would flow. nation of methods will be used to detect CO2 be extremely difficult to plan the CCS Clearly, such models are unacceptable leakage. These will include internal meas- processes and undertake the necessary flow for converting from volumetric to mass flow urements such as flow, pressure and temper- conditions to maintain a stable phase, ensure when trying to meet the ±1.5 per cent uncer- ature, along with external methods, such a safe and economical transportation through tainty target. Further work, including model- screening and sampling of the surrounding pipelines. ling and experimental research, is therefore environments. In serious cases, the leakage required to obtain the necessary chemistry of CO2 may be clearly visible, either by the Physical properties and CO2 behaviour and physical properties data to allow the formation of CO2 clouds in the atmosphere, The presence of contaminants in the CO2 planning and design of CCS schemes. In par- or the presence of solid CO2 deposits on the stream will significantly alter the physical ticular, the development and validation of ro- ground. properties from those of pure CO2 and it is bust equations of state from CO2 mixtures Measurement, Monitoring & Verifica- the physical properties of the CO2 stream is essential. tion (MMV) is a key requisite for the opti- that dictate its behaviour under different mal operation and management of a CO2 se- processes and conditions. This is because the CO2 leak detection and quantification questration site, but it presents challenges overall effect of impurities in the CO2 It is also vital that appropriate measurements that are site-specific and ever changing. In- stream is to shift the phase boundary and cre- are in place to detect and quantify leakage if dividual CCS projects will therefore need ate two-phase regions with the associated it should occur across the CCS network. This site-specific MMV processes to ensure the impact on flow measurement as described includes from above-surface pipelines, captured CO2 will be injected safely and above. buried pipelines, sub-sea pipelines and from permanently for sequestration. However, it Although ‘equations of state’ models the geological storage formations. However, is almost impossible to recommend a set of exist for calculating the physical properties the greatest issue in terms of leak detection MMV tools that could be applied universal- of pure CO2, the best currently available is that although there are many technologies ly to all CO2 storage sites because every ge- models that include the contaminants likely in place for detecting leakage from the stor- ological storage site presents unique struc- in CCS streams have uncertainties of at least age formation, the real challenge is to quan- tures, conditions and challenges.

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Transport and Storage

'  %% # # 4 & #  standards for flow measurement in CO2. 8E 52c)2U2URc The UK Government’s National Meas- 2 202cs2 urement System has recognised this require- D2D2D2v 0 83cTD9 ment and has invested in innovative R&D 52 52 facilities which are being developed at NEL sU 2RU2)2 in East Kilbride, near Glasgow to address the s880U5

R2R 932ER5WU key metrology issues with CCS scheme de- )$ c90)U8RR2&c velopment. This work includes the develop- ment of an infrastructure to incorporate CO2 Table 2- Monitoring & Measuring Approaches [1] flow measurement standards with three sep- arate CO2 test facilities. These facilities will provide a platform for research and develop- The table above lists the technologies sary pumping pressures and conditioning re- ment work on measurement devices and and techniques available for MMV for CO2 quired to maintain a stable, safe and econom- components over a wide range of conditions storage. ical flow across the network. This includes that are relevant to CCS Schemes, and to de- The issue of the long time frames that using validated algorithms, models and velop and test recommended practices for are required for MMV of CO2 sequestered equations of state, which will underpin on- the full- scale deployment, supporting na- in a geological formation is proving to be a line physical properties calculation software tional and international standardisation. great challenge to overcome. This is because and computers. It is evident that there are a number of monitoring plans have to be applied through- In order to ensure effective control and potential issues associated with the measure- out the lifetime of a project to ensure its suc- fluid management of the overall system, and ment of CO2 which require to be addressed cess. Also, the question that begs an answer a smooth transition from the point of capture to support CCS schemes. Particularly there is when, if ever, is it acceptable to bring through to transportation and injection into is inadequate knowledge of the physical MMV processes to an end at a CO2 storage the storage formation, it will be necessary to properties and phase envelopes relating to facility? The greatest issue in terms of leak have sophisticated, on-line, interfaced meas- CO2 mixtures in CCS schemes, yet such da- detection is that although there are many urement systems to allow constant monitor- ta will be essential for controlling CCS technologies in place for detecting leakage ing and tracking of changes throughout the processes and for planning and designing from the storage formation, there are cur- network. The use of standardised methods, suitable and accurate measurement systems. rently no methods to accurately quantify industry standards, best practice guidelines, For the full- scale industrial deploy- leakage. and traceable validated measurement equip- ment of CCS schemes it is essential that ac- ment, will help minimise inconsistencies be- curate and robust monitoring programmes The future of accurate CCS tween measurement points and duty holders. are in place, which means much work has to Measurement However, the current situation shows be done now to address the various measure- In CCS schemes, sampling, physical proper- that there is little validated data available to ment, monitoring and verification issues ties, flow measurement and leakage detec- support the performance and accuracy of across the full CCS chain. tion and quantification data are interdepen- various flow measurement technologies for dent on one another. Sampling the composi- use in CCS schemes. This reflects the lack References tion of the CO2 stream will provide the nec- of test and calibration facilities available [1] Forbes S.M., and Ziegler, S.M., No- essary data to calculate the physical proper- worldwide to support the necessary research, vember 2010, Carbon Dioxide Capture And ties, which will then be used for flow meas- development and verification of CCS flow Storage And The UNFCCC - Recommenda- urement and control calculations. In particu- measurement technologies. In particular tions For Addressing Technical Issues, World lar, it will allow determination of the neces- there are no validated primary reference Resources Institute, http://www.wri.org. Ac- cessed on 27th August 2011

More information NEL is a world class provider of techni- cal consulting, research, measurement, testing and programme management serv-     ices to clients across many industries in-   cluding oil & gas, renewable and sustain-     able energy, process and government. NEL also holds the UK National Standards for flow measurement and has an international reputation in key engi- neering areas such as flow measurement, computational fluid dynamics, environ- mental and thermal engineering.

www.tuvnel.com Figure 1 - integrated measurement and control system

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Transport and Storage

CIUDEN's PISCO2 project commences www.ciuden.es The research team working at the Fun- dación Ciudad de la Energía (CIUDEN) has extracted 50 cubic metres of upper layer soil from the site of the future CO2 storage pilot plant in Hontomín (Merindad del Río Ubierna, Burgos, Spain). The soil was taken to CIUDEN’s facil- ities in Cubillos del Sil (León), where it will become part of the PISCO2 Project aimed at developing sustainable biomonitoring tools for safety control of CO2 geological storage. The PISCO2 project starts its opera- tional phase with 12 cells (16m2 each) filled with soil from both the capture and storage sites. The cells are equipped with systems for controlled CO2 injection at different depths and devices for sampling groundwa- ter and gases (CO2, CH4, O2). Continuous monitoring systems measure water content, pH levels and CO2 fluxes, as well as assess- CIUDEN’s technicians collected soil samples from the Hontomin storage site to develop ing potential microbiological, botanical and biomonitoring tools for CO2 in large areas geochemical alterations. The research objectives of PISCO2 in- clude the development of biomonitoring tools for CO2 leakage in large areas, testing leakage is expected to be very unlikely in administer the competitively awarded tax and development of equipment and method- practice, such systems will be important to credit. ologies and to serve as a laboratory for agri- provide assurance to regulators, storage NEORI calculates that the program cultural tests of the effects of low CO2 emis- providers and other stakeholders for the stor- would pay for itself within 10 years through sions. age sector of the CCS industry. increased federal revenues generated by In the future, PISCO2 expects to be The deadline for notification of inten- boosting domestic oil production, with an es- available to test soil samples from all over tion to submit a proposal is 15 June and the timated net return of $100 billion over 40 the world. With this facility CIUDEN aims closing date is 29 June. years. The incentive would reduce the trade to achieve carbon dioxide control and moni- deficit by saving the United States about toring using natural analogue methods. U.S. plan to boost CO2-EOR $610 billion in expenditures on imported oil neori.org over the same period. ETI project to develop marine The National Enhanced Oil Recovery Ini- As an immediate measure, NEORI rec- subsurface monitoring tiative (NEORI) has called for federal and ommends that Congress or the Treasury De- www.eti.co.uk state incentives to stimulate the expansion partment modify the existing Section 45Q The UK Energy Technologies Institute is of enhanced oil recovery using CO2 from Tax Credit for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration seeking partners for a project to deliver a power plants and industrial facilities. to provide a more workable incentive to system to provide assurance that carbon NEORI, a coalition of industry, state, firms to capture and transport CO2. dioxide is securely stored deep under- environmental and labour leaders, suggests At the state level, NEORI identified a ground beneath the sea bed. that the proposed measures would boost do- range of existing state policies encouraging The ETI has already completed two re- mestic U.S. oil production while reducing commercial deployment of CO2 capture search projects on CO2 storage, one on the nation’s CO2 emissions. technologies and projects and recommends Measuring, Monitoring and Verification In CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2- that other states tailor and adopt them. The (MMV) requirements for the UK and the EOR), oil producers inject CO2 into wells to model state policies include tax credits, ex- other making an assessment of the UK’s draw more oil to the surface. The practice emptions or abatements, and the inclusion of storage potential (UKSAP, the UK Storage helps sustain production in otherwise declin- carbon capture-and-storage in electricity Appraisal Project). ing oil fields but limited supplies of CO2 portfolio standards, among others. Together with knowledge gained from constrain the expansion of EOR. In total, an estimated 26 billion to 61 the design studies completed as part of NEORI recommends a proposed feder- billion barrels of economically recoverable DECC’s CCS competition, the ETI has used al tax incentive focused on companies that oil could be produced in the United States these studies to identify capability gaps in capture and transport CO2, not oil compa- using currently available CO2-EOR tech- the UK which need to be addressed in MMV. nies. It is estimated that the tax credit would nologies and practices, or potentially more From this analysis, the ETI has identi- quadruple U.S. oil production from EOR, to than twice the country’s proved reserves. Ex- fied that the key requirement gap is for 400 million barrels a year, while reducing panded use of CO2-EOR also can advance proven systems capable of detecting and CO2 emissions by 4 billion tons over the the development of infrastructure needed for measuring any leak in the shallow subsur- next 40 years. long-term capture, transportation and stor- face and the marine environment. Although The U.S. Treasury Department would age of carbon emissions.

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Status of CCS project database The status of 78 large-scale integrated projects data courtesy of the Global CCS Institute For the full list, with the latest data as it becomes available, please see the pdf version online at www.carboncapturejournal.com or download a spreadsheet at www.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/data/dataset/status-ccs-project-database

Asset State / Volu Lifecycle Project Name Description Country District CO Stage

Occidental Petroleum, in partnership with Sandridge Energy, is operating a gas UNITED Operate Century Plant processing plant in West Texas that at present can capture 5 Mtpa of carbon dioxide for Texas 8.5 Mtp STATES use in enhanced oil recovery. Capture capacity will be increased to 8.5 Mtpa in 2012.

Since 1982, the Enid Fertilizer plant has sent around 680,000 tonnes per annum of UNITED Operate Enid Fertilizer Oklahoma 0.68 Mt carbon dioxide to be used in enhanced oil recovery operations in Oklahoma. STATES

Great Plains Synfuel About 3 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide is captured from the Great Plains Operate Plant and Weyburn- Synfuel plant in North Dakota. Since 2000 the carbon dioxide has been transported by CANADA Saskatchewan 3 Mtpa Midale Project pipeline into Canada for enhanced oil recovery in the Weyburn and Midale Oil Fields.

In Salah is a fully operational onshore gas field in Algeria. Since 2004, 1 million tonnes Wilaya de Operate In Salah CO2 Storage per annum of carbon dioxide are separated from produced gas and reinjected into the ALGERIA 1 Mtpa Ouargla producing hydrocarbon reservoir zones for storage in a deep saline formation.

Around 7 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide are recovered from ExxonMobil’s Shute Creek Gas UNITED Operate Shute Creek gas processing plant in Wyoming, and transported by pipeline to various oil Wyoming 7 Mtpa Processing Facility STATES fields for enhanced oil recovery. This project has been operational since 1986.

Sleipner is the second largest gas development in the North Sea. Carbon dioxide is 1 Mtpa Sleipner CO2 Operate separated from produced gas at Sleipner T and reinjected into a deep saline formation NORWAY North Sea Mtpa in Injection above the hydrocarbon reservoir zone. This project has been in operation since 1996. construc

The Snøhvit offshore gas field and related CCS activities have been in operation since Operate Snøhvit CO2 Injection 2007. Carbon dioxide separated from the gas produced at an onshore liquid natural gas NORWAY Barents Sea 0.7 Mtp plant is reinjected into a deep saline formation below the reservoir zones.

This operating enhanced oil recovery project uses carbon dioxide sourced from the Val Verde Natural Gas UNITED Operate Mitchell, Gray Ranch, Puckett, Pikes Peak and Terrell gas processing plants and Texas 1.3 Mtp Plants STATES transported via the Val Verde and CRC pipelines.

ADM Illinois Industrial The project will capture around 1 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide from UNITED Execute Carbon Capture and ethanol production. Carbon dioxide will be stored approximately 2.1 km underground in Illinois Up to 1 STATES Sequestration Project the Mount Simon Sandstone, a deep saline formation.

Agrium's fertiliser plant in Alberta is currently being retrofitted with a carbon dioxide Agrium CO2 Capture Execute capture unit. Around 585,000 tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide will be captured and CANADA Alberta 0.585 M with ACTL transported via the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) for enhanced oil recovery.

Air Products Steam This project in construction will capture more than 1 million tonnes per year of carbon UNITED Execute Methane Reformer dioxide from two steam methane reformers to be transported via Denbury's Midwest Texas 1 Mtpa STATES EOR Project pipeline to the Hastings and Oyster Bayou oil fields for enhanced oil recovery.

Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon SaskPower is currently retrofitting a coal-based power generator with carbon capture Capture and Execute technology near Estevan, Saskatchewan. When fully operational in 2014, this project will CANADA Saskatchewan 1 Mtpa Sequestration capture around 1 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide. Demonstration Project

Gorgon Carbon This component of a larger gas production and LNG processing project will inject 3.4 to Western Execute Dioxide Injection 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum into a deep saline formation. Construction AUSTRALIA 3.4 - 4 M Australia Project is under way after a final investment decision was made in September 2009.

Mississippi Power (Southern Company) is constructing an air-blown 582 MW IGCC plant Kemper County IGCC UNITED Execute using a coal-based transport gasifier. Up to 3.5 million tonnes per annum of carbon Mississippi 3.5 Mtp Project STATES dioxide will be captured at the plant and used for enhanced oil recovery.

This project will retrofit the Lost Cabin natural gas processing plant in Wyoming with UNITED Execute Lost Cabin Gas Plant CCS facilities, capturing around 1 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide to be used Wyoming 1 Mtpa STATES for enhanced oil recovery.

PGE EBSA plans to integrate a carbon capture plant into a new built 858 MW unit at the Define Bełchatów CCS Bełchatów Power Plant. Around 1.8 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide will be POLAND Łódź 1.8 Mtp captured (advanced amine process) and stored in deep saline formations.

CVR Energy is developing a new compression facility at its fertiliser plant in Kansas. Coffeyville UNITED Define The plant currently produces approximately 850,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide which will Kansas 0.85 Mt Gasification Plant STATES be transported to the mid-continental region for use in enhanced oil recovery.

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Status of CCS project database

te / Volume Operation Facility Transport Capture Type Transport Type Storage Type Project URL rict CO2 Date Details Length

Natural Gas Onshore to Enhanced Oil 8.5 Mtpa 2010 Pre-Combustion 256 km Processing onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.oxy.com/

Fertiliser Onshore to Enhanced Oil ma 0.68 Mtpa 1982 Pre-Combustion 192 km Production onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.kochfertilizer.com/

Synthetic Onshore to Enhanced Oil hewan 3 Mtpa 2000 Pre-Combustion 315 km Natural Gas onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.cenovus.com/

Onshore Deep e Natural Gas Onshore to 1 Mtpa 2004 Pre-Combustion 14 km Saline Processing onshore pipeline http://www.insalahco2.com/ Formations

Natural Gas Onshore to Enhanced Oil g 7 Mtpa 1986 Pre-Combustion 190 km Processing onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.exxonmobil.com

1 Mtpa + 0.2 Offshore Deep Natural Gas Offshore to ea Mtpa in 1996 Pre-Combustion 0 km Saline Processing offshore pipeline http://www.statoil.com/en/ construction Formations

Offshore Deep Natural Gas Onshore to Sea 0.7 Mtpa 2008 Pre-Combustion 150 km Saline Processing offshore pipeline http://www.statoil.com/en/ Formations

Natural Gas Onshore to Enhanced Oil 1.3 Mtpa 1972 Pre-Combustion 132 km Processing onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.exxonmobil.com/

Onshore Deep Chemical Industrial Onshore to Up to 1 Mtpa 2013 1.6 km Saline Production Separation onshore pipeline http://www.adm.com/ Formations

Fertiliser Onshore to Enhanced Oil 0.585 Mtpa 2014 Pre-Combustion 234 km Production onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.agrium.com/

Hydrogen Onshore to Enhanced Oil 1 Mtpa 2012 Pre-Combustion Not specified Production onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.airproducts.com/

Power Post- Onshore to Enhanced Oil hewan 1 Mtpa 2014 100 km Generation Combustion onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.saskpower.com/

Onshore Deep Natural Gas Onshore to 3.4 - 4 Mtpa 2015 Pre-Combustion 10 km Saline Processing onshore pipeline http://www.chevronaustralia.com/ Formations

Power Onshore to Enhanced Oil ppi 3.5 Mtpa 2014 Pre-Combustion 75 km Generation onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.mississippipower.com/

Natural Gas Onshore to Enhanced Oil g 1 Mtpa 2013 Pre-Combustion 370 km Processing onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.conocophillips.com/

Onshore Deep Power Post- Onshore to 1.8 Mtpa 2015 51 – 100 km Saline Generation Combustion onshore pipeline http://www.bot.pl/ Formations

Fertiliser Onshore to Enhanced Oil 0.85 Mtpa 2013 Pre-Combustion 112 km Production onshore pipeline Recovery http://www.cvrenergy.com/

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Ross Offshore is a leading provider of subsurface evaluation, engineering and project management services to the upstream oil and gas industry as well as CCS. We supply proven experience, the latest technical skills and in-depth knowledge. With our employees and extensive network of consultants we indentify the best Part of STG X\HSPÄLKWLYZVUULS[VTH[JO`V\YYLX\PYLKULLKZ Focus on CO2 for EOR Photo: Statoil We make a difference in CO

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