CARBON STORAGE IN THE MT. SIMON: FIELD EXAMPLES OF REGIONAL DEPLOYMENT (Invited Presentation)

Commercial-scale industrial Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) has long been an objective to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and increase storage and production potential. CCUS is deemed critical for achieving CO₂reductions that can lead to Paris Agreement targets for below 2°C global average temperature increases. Facilitating the development of commercial-scale projects has been a strategic process across multiple phases leading to a succession of projects of increasing scale in the Central United States.

Four major CCUS projects in Decatur, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana exemplify the strategic pathway defined more than a decade ago by the U.S. Department of Energy – National Technology Laboratory (US DOE). Starting in 2003, the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), a US DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, has been working to define regional CCUS potential, conducting small enhanced oil and enhanced coalbed methane projects, and conducting a large-scale deep saline CCUS storage project. As a direct outcome of the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (IBDP), a one million tonne storage demonstration, the Illinois Industrial Sources CCUS Project (ICCS) has expanded infrastructure and injection potential to industrial commercial-scale CCUS. Advancing CCUS even further, the CarbonSAFE Macon County and CarbonSAFE Wabash projects seek to conduct characterization leading to the development of a 50 million tonne storage complex with the potential to receive and store CO₂from multiple sources. These projects combined provide an excellent example of how leveraging research, resources, relationships, and experience can drive CCUS toward commercialization.

This paper will discuss the ways in which these projects have built on each other to achieve a regional scale-up likely to result in greater CCUS deployment throughout the region. The ways in which resources and collaborations have benefitted and challenged the individual projects and overall program will be discussed. Recommendations for similar regional approaches will be provided.