CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE: RESHAPING THE ENERGY INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Numerous carbon capture and storage (CCS) activities are underway in the southeastern United States and are leveraging the utility of carbon dioxide as a commodity for enhanced resource recovery as part of a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. Injection of carbon dioxide into mature oil reservoirs is a proven technology for the rejuvenation of oil fields in the Gulf Coast region and is facilitating the recovery of an additional 15% of original oil-in-place. Coal seams have significant storage capacity for carbon dioxide, and enhanced coalbed methane recovery technology has potential to increase reserves in the established coalbed gas plays of Alabama and Virginia by more than 20% while prolonging the life of these reservoirs by decades. Saline formations also have exceptional storage capacity. Although saline reservoirs do not provide the direct added value of enhanced resource recovery, they have giant capacity and can help ensure the deliverability of carbon dioxide for enhanced resource recovery.

Early field testing of carbon storage includes small-scale testing of mature oil reservoirs, coal, and saline formations, and most of these tests have been conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB). These tests have verified the injectivity of the major carbon sinks and have been instrumental in the design and deployment of reservoir monitoring technology. New exploratory wells are scheduled to be drilled in Alabama and South Carolina and will be used to identify best practices for site selection and characterization. Ongoing field tests are focused on large-scale injection of carbon dioxide into mature oil reservoirs saline formations. As part of this initiative, a 25 Mw pilot facility is being installed at a pulverized-coal power facility in Alabama that employs an advanced amine process for post-combustion CO₂ capture. A proposed coal gasification plant in Mississippi further provides opportunities to test pre-combustion technology.