Carbon Sequestration in New York and its Potential to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

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Carbon Sequestration in New York and its
Potential to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions
John P. Martin, Ph.D. Senior Project
Manager Energy Resources RD Program New York
State Energy Research and Development Authority
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Outline

• The Carbon Cycle
• What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
• How do you do it?
• Are there any projects?
• The Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration
• Developing CCS Demonstration Projects
• NYSERDAs CCS Plan and Projects in NY

Carbon Dioxide OCO
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The Carbon Cycle
Primary Anthropogenic CO2.
Source PCOR Partnership Atlas, 2005
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NYS 3.7 of U.S. CO2 Emissions
NYS 3.7
38 Transportation 25 Electricity 6 Industrial

• US 5705.1 Million Tons CO2
• NY 211.5 Million Tons CO2

Rest of United States
Data source EIA, NYSERDA
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Outline

• The Carbon Cycle
• What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
• How do you do it?
• Are there any projects?
• The Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration
• Developing CCS Demonstration Projects
• NYSERDAs CCS Plan and Projects in NY

Carbon Dioxide OCO
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Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage(CCS)?

• Capture of CO2 from a Stationary Source
• Transport of CO2 to storage site
• Injection of CO2 into a Geologic Reservoir
• Safe Storage/Disposal of CO2 1000-2000m Below
  Ground Surface Permanently
• Reintegration of CO2 into Earths
  Geological Environment as part of
  the Carbon Cycle

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Overview of Carbon Capture Systems
(IGCC)?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, SRCCS,
Figure TS-3
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CCS Options Direct/Indirect
NY Stratigraphic (Rock) Column
Beekman-town
Note all the formations that produce gas or oil!
Source PCOR Partnership Atlas, 2005 and NYS
Museum
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Sequestration Options and Technical Development
Timeline

• Near Term
• Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
• Depleted Oil and Gas Reservoir
• Gas Storage Caverns

• Long Term
• Shale EGR
• Ocean Sediment Storage
• Mineralization of CO2

• Medium Term
• Coal Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR)
• Onshore Saline Formations
• Offshore Formations

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Status of CCS Demonstration Projects

• Existing Demonstration Projects
• Norway STATOIL Sleipner Project (started in
  1996)
• Separates and captures approximately 1 million
  tons of CO2 per year from the offshore natural
  gas production platform and reinjects the CO2
  into a porous saline formation beneath the sea
  floor.
• Canada/USA Weyburn Project
• CO2 produced at a gasification plant in North
  Dakota is being piped into Saskatchewan and
  sequestered into porous sandstone oil fields for
  enhanced oil recovery (approx. 2 million tons per
  year).
• Texas Frio Project
• Small-scale injection of CO2 into highly porous
  saline-bearing sandstone formation (a 1,600 tons
  over 10 days).
• Planned Research Projects
• FutureGen zero-emission coal powerplant (275
  MW)
• Funded by USDOE and numerous companies and plans
  to site in Illinois
• USDOE Carbon Sequestration Partnerships
• Seven Partnerships with funding in 3 phases
  (Currently in Phase 2)

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Emissions Comparison Demonstration-Scale vs.
Commercial-Scale CCS

• Sleipner Demonstration captures 1 million tons
  CO2 per year
• Typical 600 MWe Natural Gas Plant
• Generates 2.0 million tons CO2 per year
• Typical 600 MWe Coal Combustion Plant
• Generates 5.6 million tons CO2 per year
• 600 MWe IGCC Plant w/o sequestration
• Generates 3.7 million tons CO2 per year
• 600 MWe IGCC Plant with 66 sequestration
• Captures 2.4 million tons CO2 per year, or 42
  billion cubic feet of gas

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Outline

• The Carbon Cycle
• What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
• How do you do it?
• Are there any projects?
• The Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration
• Developing CCS Demonstration Projects
• NYSERDAs CCS Plan and Projects in NY

Carbon Dioxide OCO
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Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration

• Storing CO2 in rocks is not far fetched
• Carbon Dioxide, methane and other gases exist in
  rock pore space and are produced for economic
  uses.
• Natural gas is reinjected for gas storage.
• CO2 is reinjected for enhance oil recovery.
• Do oil and gas geology in reverse!
• PROBLEM ONE commercial IGCC plant with 66
  sequestration needs to sequester nearly as much
  gaseous CO2 as the volume of natural gas produced
  in New York State in 2006 (a record year).

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We Produce Oil and Gas in NYS?

• Oil and gas production in NYS dates back to the
  1820s. Gas storage began in the early 1900s.
• 2006 Production 56 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) from
  over 5,000 wells
• 2006 Gas storage capacity 219 Bcf

Do oil and gas geology in reverse!
Source NYS DEC
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Sandstone
Queenston Sandstone and Black River Carbonate
Reservoir Rocks

• Carbonate has common vug, fracture and breccia
  porosity, no matrix porosity.
• Queenston rocks have matrix porosity. (can't see
  it?)?
• How can you store CO2?

Siltstone
Conglomerate
4 in.
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Cores Showing Queenston Matrix Porosity

• Three Storage Mechanisms
• Displacement (move or compress water/gases)
• Dissolution (think soda water)
• Expansion (rocks are slightly elastic)

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How Do You Substantially Increase CO2 Storage
Capacity?
Inject as a liquid to a depth adequate to keep it
that way (approx. 2,500 ft.)? 1 ton
supercritical CO2 a bit more than 1 cubic yard
CO2 should be sequestered underground in a
supercritical state that has the density of a
liquid but flows like a gas In a given space,
one can store about 230 times more CO2 in a
supercritical state than in a vapor state.
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Outline

• The Carbon Cycle
• What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
• How do you do it?
• Are there any projects?
• The Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration
• Developing CCS Demonstration Projects
• NYSERDAs CCS Plan and Projects in NY

Carbon Dioxide OCO
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CCS Project Development Major Issues
Preliminary Assessment
Assessment for Threshold Eligibility RISKS

• Geological Sequestration Potential
• Environmental Considerations
• Plant/Site Technical Specs
• Energy/ Economic/Social Considerations

Y/N?
Energy/ Eco-nomic/Social
Environ-mental
Technical
Site-Specific Feasibility Study
Project Permitting and Operations
Y/N?

• Geological
• Plant/Site
• SEQRA/Permitting

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CCS Project Development Managing Geologic
Uncertainty and Risk

• Though the technology is that used in the oil and
  gas industry, there remains a need for
  significant geological research prior to full
  scale implementation.
• Better characterization research is absolutely
  essential to reduce uncertainty and help
  quantify risk
• Need to avoid another Avoca though
  characterization.

• Uncertainty Sources
• Geological scenarios
• Fluid contacts
• Property / facies distribution
• Long term mineral reactions
• Fault transmissibilities
• Fluids transmissibilities
• PVT and saturation modeling
• Production and drilling scenarios
• Economic parameters
• Condition of wells
• Interpretation error

John Tombari, Schlumberger Carbon Services,
Managing Uncertainty in Geologic Storage Measure
Twice Cut Once, presented at the NETL Carnon
Sequestration Conference, 2007
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Carbon Sequestration Project Timeline
1-3 yrs
1 yr
3-5 yrs
John Tombari, Schlumberger Carbon Services,
Managing Uncertainty in Geologic Storage Measure
Twice Cut Once, presented at the NETL Carnon
Sequestration Conference, 2007
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Outline

• The Carbon Cycle
• What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
• How do you do it?
• Are there any projects?
• The Nuts and Bolts of Carbon Sequestration
• Developing CCS Demonstration Projects
• NYSERDAs CCS Plan and Projects in NY

Carbon Dioxide OCO
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NYSERDA CCS Research Program

• Detailed characterization of geological
  formations in NYS to identify storage
  opportunities (for example NYSERDA provided a
  geologic guidance document for NYPA ACCPPI).
• Develop New Yorks strategic technical capability
  by assisting NYS companies and universities to
  lead in this global effort. Develop staff
  competency.
• Become an active member in the Midwest Regional
  Carbon Sequestration Partnership.
• CCS projects developed through NYSERDA
  competitive solicitations.

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Geological Work with the MRCSP

• The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration
  Partnership (MRCSP) started in 2003 to consider
  geological storage, terrestrial sequestration,
  and legal/regulatory issues.
• New York State only very recently joined the
  MRCSP and is now in the process of getting up to
  speed and integrating its data with that of the
  other member states (NYS Museum).

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MRCSP- Moving from Geology to Demonstration

• Phase 1 Correlating New Yorks stratigraphy with
  that of the other MRCSP states (for NYS, complete
  in 2009)
• Phase 2 Detailed investigation and injection
  testing of specific target formations identified
  in Phase 1 (MRCSP 2008-2009, NYS ??)
• Phase 3 Conduct a scaled demonstration project
  of up to 1 million tons per year at one site in
  region (MSRCSP demo to begin in 2011)

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Potential for Supercritical CO2 Storage
This map was originally developed for the NYPA
Clean Coal solicitation. Funding from NYSERDA and
the MRCSP is helping the NYS Museum to
characterize NY geological targets.
Areas with little or no potential for
supercritical CO2 sequestration Areas with
potential for supercritical CO2
sequestration Areas with unknown potential for
supercritical CO2 sequestration
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Other Current CCS Projects

• NYSERDA currently manages several other capture
  and sequestration projects with NYS universities
  and companies
• Mineral carbonation
• Algae capture research
• Ocean sediment sequestration research
• Oxycombustion technology development

CaSiO3 N2CO3(aq) ? CaCO3 SiO2 H2O
photo courtesy of Sunlight Group
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Four New Projects Under Development

• Two projectssite-specific feasibility studies to
  characterize the geology of two sections of
  western New York with respect to CO2
  sequestration.
• Characterize the geology of central New York with
  respect to CO2 sequestration and assess the
  possibility of enhanced gas recovery.
• Evaluate New York States gas shales for CO2
  sequestration and enhanced gas recovery
  potential.
• Participants include Advanced Resources
  International, Covalent Energy, Ecology
  Environment, Jamestown BPU, Praxair, Battelle
  Labs, NYS Museum, Process Energy Solutions,
  Schlumberger DCS, University at Buffalo, Cornell
  U., Geomatrix, AES Eastern Energy, Talisman
  Energy, Nornew, and Ansbro Petroleum.

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Conclusions
Example from ARIs SECARB Site Analysis
Plume extent after 100 years

• Carbon Sequestration is a feasible technology but
  has not been proven at a commercial scale.
• Good geological characterization is key to
  reducing project uncertainty (and key to reducing
  regulatory risk).
• Ultimately, fossil fuel plant siting will be
  driven by geological sequestration opportunities
  as well as access to power lines, supply lines,
  etc...
• NYSERDA is working to characterize the geological
  conditions necessary for CCS projects in New York
  State.