DOE Assesses Appalachian Basin for Carbon Sequestration

September 25, 2006 // Published as a news service by IHS

The DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory is sponsoring the tests as part of a program to develop carbon sequestration. The work is aimed at reducing U.S. greenhouse gas intensity - the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output - by 18% by 2012.

"The seismic testing in the Appalachian Basin helps to transfer carbon sequestration technology from the laboratory to the field," said Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Jeffrey Jarrett.

"The tests move the Nation's carbon sequestration program one step closer to determining the technologies, permitting and infrastructure best suited in each region of the country for permanently storing greenhouse gases and addressing global climate change."

Carbon sequestration uses a variety of methods to remove greenhouse gases, especially CO2, from power plant emissions or the air itself, and securely store those gases in geologic formations, soils and vegetation or in other environmentally safe forms.

The seismic testing was conducted by the DOE-sponsored Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership at the FirstEnergy Corp R.E. Burger plant in Shadyside, Ohio.

An earlier phase of the project determined that the sandstone and limestone rock formations around the plant held potential for serving as a repository for CO2. Researchers estimate that the formations may have the capacity to store CO2 for more than 200 years.

In the new phase of the project, survey crews employed truck-mounted seismic equipment to generate pulses in the ground around the Burger plant. The seismic signal from the vibrations is used to create images of the subsurface area and determine its suitability for injecting CO2.

The surveys are focused on the area adjacent to the Burger plant and extend about 10 miles in length, including areas directly across the Ohio River near Moundsville, WV. Three shorter routes, about a mile long along the Ohio River, are also being surveyed. All of the survey data is expected to provide "quasi three-dimensional" data at much lower cost than a full three-dimensional survey.

Based on the survey results, the partnership may begin the permitting process to drill a well into a brine field beneath the Burger plant property. The test well will reach a depth of 4,000 to 7,000 feet - well below drinking water supplies, which are about 100 feet deep in this region. If further testing determines it can be done safely, the partnership hopes to eventually inject CO2 into the brine field to test the feasibility of geologic sequestration in this type of setting.

The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships created by the Energy Department in 2002. The partnership program exists so that each partnership can assess the CO2 sequestration option best suited to its specific region. Currently, the seven regional partnerships include more than 300 organizations within 40 states, three Indian nations and four Canadian provinces.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy.