GEOLOGICAL CO2 SEQUESTRATION IN OHIO—A LOOK AT NEAR-TERM PROJECTS

Since 2000, the Ohio Division of Geological Survey has participated in several initiatives sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy to determine the geologic CO2-sequestration potential of the region. Analyses indicate Ohio has the potential capacity to store about 45 gigatonnes of CO2 in various subsurface geologic options, some of which include opportunities for value-added production of oil and natural gas associated with CO2 sequestration. Annually, large stationary CO2 sources in Ohio emit approximately 150 million tonnes of CO2. Thus, at current output levels, it can be inferred that the state has the capacity to store about 300 years worth of CO2.

However, subsurface geologic mapping has also shown this sequestration capacity is not evenly distributed across the state. In fact, large areas have little or no known subsurface capacity for storage, while others have multiple CO2 sequestration options available at a single location. Therefore, locating future CO2 point sources where the subsurface geology is favorable for large-scale CO2 injection is critical if this technology is to be used. Furthermore, the economics of transporting CO2 from these existing sources to a CO2 storage site must now be analyzed.

Recently, several large projects were proposed within Ohio for plants capable of capturing nearly pure streams of CO2. These include an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant, synthetic liquid-fuels plants, and ethanol plants. Ohio is also vying for the proposed U.S. DOE-sponsored, FutureGen clean-coal power plant, which, as part of its design, would sequester at least 90% of its produced CO2. These new facilities may become the first to entirely embrace geologic CO2 sequestration and begin the process of building the infrastructure required to compress, transport, and inject CO2 in the subsurface in Ohio.