Release Date: July 21, 2000

The innovative ideas of 13 private sector research teams for affordable ways to capture and store the gases that cause the "greenhouse effect" have been judged the best of more than 60 concepts submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

"The selection of these projects signals our strongest commitment to date for carbon sequestration research," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "Should these projects result in real breakthroughs, America and the world will have a new set of options to help meet the challenges of global climate change."

The projects mark a major transition in the Energy Department's carbon sequestration research program - a relatively new area of science that envisions ways to capture greenhouse gases and either store them for centuries or recycle them into useful products.

To date, research has concentrated largely on early exploratory ventures funded primarily with federal dollars. The new projects are larger-scale partnerships with private research institutions, industries, and universities sharing a major portion of the research costs.

The Energy Department is prepared to commit $15 million over the next three years to the projects. The private sector cosponsors propose to contribute an additional $10 million, or an average of 40 percent of the total costs – well above the department's minimum requirement of 20 percent.

The goal is to reduce the cost of carbon sequestration to $10 or less per net ton of carbon emissions by 2015. Costs in this range would add less than one cent per kilowatt-hour to the average electric bill, making sequestration one of the most affordable options for addressing climate change. Present systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) are much more expensive, averaging $100 - $300 per ton per ton of carbon captured or avoided.

The 13 projects selected comprise the first of two phases in a competition DOE began last December. The second round of proposals are due August 31. The projects are:

Separation and capture

• Media and Process Technology Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. - to develop a high-temperature membrane that can separate CO2 from gases formed when coal is reacted with steam and oxygen in a coal gasifier. The system would be ideal for future power plants in which coal would be gasified instead of burned. DOE share: $720,000; private share: $180,000.

• Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, N.C. - to develop a low-cost way to separate CO2 from the flue gas of existing fossil fuel combustion plants with a reusable sodium-based chemical. DOE share: $812,400; private share: $238,600.

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geologic formations

• Advanced Resources International, Houston, Texas - to use enhanced coalbed methane recovery technology to field test the viability of storing CO2 in coal seams in the San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. DOE share: $1.39 million; private share: $5.76 million.

• Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas - to use a nuclear magnetic resonance well-logging technique to identify the most suitable geologic formations for long-term CO2 storage. DOE share: $3.44 million; private share: $699,000.

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah - to study deep saline reservoirs in the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountain region to determine how much CO2 can be stored, what happens to the stored gas, and what the environmental risks are. DOE share: $342,000; private share: $85,640.

• Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala. - to determine how much CO2 can be stored in the Black Warrior coalbed methane region in Alabama and identify other storage sites for mass CO2 sequestration. DOE share: $789,560, private share: $608,500.

Ocean sequestration

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, Calif. - to use a combination of remotely operated deep sea vehicle technology, time lapse cameras, and other analytical techniques to determine the long-term fate of CO2 injected deep into the ocean. Experiments will also measure the response of deep sea biological organisms and any changes that might occur in the marine environment. DOE share: $362,740; private share: $72,550.

• Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. - to conduct the first direct analyses of frozen CO2 deposits known as hydrates on the sea floor. DOE share: $492,000; private share $184,520.

Terrestrial (soils and vegetation) sequestration

• Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas - to evaluate a reclamation/reforestation program that would sequester carbon in trees on abandoned mine lands in the Appalachian region. The university will also develop a system for trading carbon credits to lower the costs of CO2 terrestrial sequestration to $5/ton of carbon or less. DOE share: $587,300; private share: $172,660.

Advanced concepts

• The Ohio University, Athens, Ohio - to enhance photosynthesis by attaching photosynthetic organisms to specially designed growths arranged in a "bioreactor" with special lighting to enhance the rate of CO2 conversion. DOE share: $1,075,000; private share: $239,300.

• Physical Sciences Inc., Andover, Mass. - to develop technologies that use selected species of micro-algae to photosynthesize CO2 from power plant exhaust gases. DOE share: $1.7 million; private share: $680,000.

Modeling and assessments - a better, more accurate way to assess the costs, risks, and potential of carbon sequestration technology.

• Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. - to develop a state-of-the-art computer model to assess CO2-sequestration options and costs from the local to national level. DOE share: $717,200; private share: $179,200.

• University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. - to develop a digital database that catalogs CO2-source-to-sequestration-site information in five Midwestern states (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio). DOE share: $2,334,000; private share $915,940.

Sequestration Project Details

Modeling and assessments - The department asked for better, more accurate ways to assess the costs, risks, and potential of carbon sequestration technology. New analytical tools in this area could play an important role in determining which of the most promising research efforts warrant further development.

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA - will develop an easy-to-use, state-of-the-art computer model that will allow different technology options for carbon capture and storage to be systematically evaluated at the level of an individual plant or facility. The model will take into account not only the avoided carbon emissions, but also the indirect impacts on criteria air pollutants, toxins and solid wastes. Uncertainties and technological risks will be characterized explicitly. The model can be employed to assess carbon sequestration options and associated costs and uncertainties at the local, regional or national level. More immediately, it can be used to help identify the technology R&D options with the highest potential payoffs.

The researchers plan to provide an array of technology options for carbon management. The CO2 separation and capture options for a facility would include a set of "baseline" technologies representing currently available systems that could be employed at fossil-fuel power plants. The modeling framework would be further extended to include a broader array of fossil fuel plant designs, not just coal combustion plants. Initially, this will include a variety of gasification-based systems, as well as natural gas combined cycle plants and other gas-based systems. Later, other advanced concepts could be added.

Proposed DOE share: $717,200
Participant share: $179,200
Duration: 36 months
Address: Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Sequestration Project Details

Modeling and assessments - The department asked for better, more accurate ways to assess the costs, risks, and potential of carbon sequestration technology. New analytical tools in this area could play an important role in determining which of the most promising research efforts warrant further development.

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS - will develop a digital spatial database that catalogs information relating CO2 sources to sequestration sites in five states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. Users could determine 1.) how much CO2 can be stored in a particular source, 2.) security and safety of a geological sequestration site, and 3.) long-term effects on the site. The costs of compressing and transporting CO2 from a source to the geological formation would also be catalogued.

Large stationary sources of CO2 emissions, such as coal-fired power plants, fertilizer plants, and steel mills, will be identified, digitally located and characterized by volume, temperature, pressure and gas mix (when possible).

Potential CO2 sequestration targets include producing and depleted oil and gas fields, unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, uneconomic coal seams, and saline aquifers. These, too, will be characterized to determine quality, size and geologic integrity; economic impact and possible value of the CO2 sequestration to hydrocarbon recovery from oil and gas fields, coal beds, and organic-rich shales.

The final product will be available to both public and private sectors. With its successful completion, technology transfer will include distributing software or other technology developed in the course of the project, so that other states and regions will be able to build upon the project's success.

Proposed DOE share: $ 2.334 million
Participant share: $ 915,940
Duration: 36 months
Address: University of Kansas, Center for Research Inc., 2385 Irving Hill Road, Lawrence, KS 66045-7552

Sequestration Project Details

Separation and capture - The department wanted technologies that can lower the costs and improve greenhouse gas separation technologies, especially for CO2, from the gas streams of energy facilities and other sources.

Media and Process Technology Co., Pittsburgh, PA - will develop a high temperature CO2-selective membrane as a reactor, which can enhance the water-gas-shift reaction efficiency while recovering CO2 simultaneously for sequestration. This improved water-gas-shift with CO2 sequestration is ideally suitable for integration into an integrated gasification combined-cycle power generation system with CO2 separation at a projected cost of less than $10/ton of carbon.

The proposed CO2 selective membrane offers two major operation advantages, 1) no hydrogen will be wasted due to incomplete separation, and 2) residual hydrogen in the bulk CO2 stream which could cause handling problems for CO2 disposal is eliminated.

Proposed DOE share: $720,000
Participant share: $180,000
Duration: 36 months
Address: Media and Process Technology Inc., 1155 William Pitt Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Sequestration Project Details

Separation and capture - The department wanted technologies that can lower the costs and improve greenhouse gas separation technologies, especially for CO2, from the gas streams of energy facilities and other sources.

Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC - will develop a simple, low-cost CO2-separation technology with a reusable, sodium-based sorbent to capture CO2 from the flue gas of existing fossil fuel combustion sources. The feasibility of the core concept of this technology has been shown by thermodynamic analysis and by preliminary laboratory testing.

The proposed research project will collect the pertinent data and assess the technical and economic feasibility of the technology. Process configurations will be optimized to allow retrofitting in many existing power plants. Two promising configurations leverage the commercially proven transport reactor and the sorbent injection technologies. Heat integration and process optimization promise to significantly reduce the cost of the proposed configurations compared with the most promising amine-based process. With possible application to all conventional steam-generating power plants, the proposed technology has the potential to capture more than 440 million metric tons of carbon equivalent per year.

Proposed DOE share: $812,400
Participant share: $238,600
Duration: 36 months
Company Address: Research Triangle Institute, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Point of Contact: Ms. Dorothy Davenport (919) 541-7298

Sequestration Project Details

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geologic formations - projects that identify and resolve technical and environmental issues in sequestering CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs, in coal seams that cannot be mined, and in deep saline formations.

Advanced Resources International, Houston, TX - this research project will provide field demonstrations of CO2 sequestration in coal seams using enhanced coalbed methane recovery technology. The proposed sites are in the San Juan Basin, the leading coalbed methane basin in the U.S.

The project objectives are to demonstrate recovery and CO2 sequestration process in deep coal seams that cannot be mined. Use of these sites will verify understanding of reservoir mechanisms, validate reservoir modeling, and document field procedures. The researchers will also demonstrate the utility of reservoir models to simulate CO2 sequestration in coals. They will assess the technical and economic feasibility of enhanced coalbed methane recovery and CO2 sequestration in various coal types and with various CO2 emissions types that occur across the U.S. and then develop a screening model that can quickly assess the feasibility for CO2 sequestration in any given situation based on the coal and injection gas properties.

Proposed DOE share: $1.39 million
Participant share: $5.76 million
Duration: 36 months
Company Address: Advanced Resources International, 9801 Westheimer, Suite 805, Houston, TX 77042

Point of Contact: Mr. Scott R. Reeves (713) 780-0815

Sequestration Project Details

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geologic formations - projects that identify and resolve technical and environmental issues in sequestering CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs, in coal seams that cannot be mined, and in deep saline formations.

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX - will develop a method to identify the most suitable geologic formations for long-term CO2 storage as well as the economical transfer and storage of the CO2 in these formations.

The researchers plan to create a novel well-logging technique using nuclear-magnetic resonance to characterize the geologic formation, including the integrity and quality of the reservoir seal. The key element in the economical transfer and storage of the CO2 is hydraulic fracturing of the formation to achieve greater lateral spreads and higher CO2 throughput. Transport, compression, and drilling represent the main costs in CO2 sequestration. The combination of well-logging and hydraulic fracturing has the potential of minimizing these costs. It is possible through hydraulic fracturing to reduce the number of injection wells by a significant degree.

Saline formations are located through most of the continental United States. Generally, where saline formations are scarce, oil and gas reservoirs and coal beds abound. By developing the technology outlined here, it will be possible to remove CO2 at the source (power plants and industry) and inject it directly into nearby geological formations, without releasing it into the atmosphere. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a technology capable of sequestering CO2 in geologic formations at a cost of U.S. $10 per ton.

Proposed DOE share: $3.435 million
Participant share: $ 699,000
Duration: 36 months
Address: Texas Tech University, Holden Hall, Room 203, Lubbock, TX 79409-1035

Point of Contact: Alan Graham (906) 742-3553

Sequestration Project Details

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geologic formations - projects that identify and resolve technical and environmental issues in sequestering CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs, in coal seams that cannot be mined, and in deep saline formations.

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT - The Colorado Plateau and adjacent Rocky Mountain region contains over 10,000 megawatts of coal-fired electricity emitting close to 100 million tonnes of CO2 each year. This region contains numerous natural CO2 fields in deep saline aquifers which are analogues for repositories of CO2 separated from the flue gases of power plants. Several of these CO2 fields are presently in production, with most CO2 being piped to enhanced oil recovery projects in west Texas.

This project will identify the geochemical reactions that will be critical for CO2 sequestration in potential reservoirs of the Colorado Plateau and quantify the volume that can be stored within typical reservoirs. Researchers will also evaluate the consequences of permeability changes for injecting the gas into wells and containing it after sequestration, including the environmental risks from CO2 leaks.

Proposed DOE share: $342,000
Participant share: $ 85,640
Duration: 36 months
Address: University of Utah,Energy and Geosciences Institute, 1471 Federal Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84102

Point of Contact: Lynne U. Chronister, (801) 581-3003

Sequestration Project Details

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geologic formations - projects that identify and resolve technical and environmental issues in sequestering CO2 in oil and gas reservoirs, in coal seams that cannot be mined, and in deep saline formations.

Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL - These researchers state that the amount of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere has risen by 30 percent since the beginning of the industrial age. It is attributed widely to burning fossil fuels and is expected to triple in the 21^st century if current trends continue.

The proposed study would focus on three main objectives: 1) to develop a geologic screening model that has wide applicability; 2) to quantify the CO2 sequestration potential of the Black Warrior coalbed methane production fairway, where two coal-fired power plants operate adjacent to a thriving coalbed methane industry; and 3) to apply the screening model to identify favorable sites to demonstrate enhanced coalbed methane recovery and mass sequestration of CO2 emitted from coal-fired power plants.

Proposed DOE share: $789,560
Participant share: $608,500
Duration: 36 months
Address: Alabama Geological Survey, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-6999

Point of Contact: Ms. Yvonne Massey (205) 349-2852

Sequestration Project Details

Ocean sequestration - projects in this category could involve technologies for injecting carbon dioxide into deep areas of the oceans, methods that add nutrients to ocean surface waters to stimulate carbon dioxide-absorbing phytoplankton, or possibly concepts for converting CO2 into mineral or other forms that are stable in the ocean or on the ocean floor.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA - Over the last three years these researchers have established a set of experimental techniques to deploy about 9 liters of liquid CO2 in the deep sea to investigate the fundamental science behind ocean CO2 sequestration using the Monterey Bay's Remotely Operated Vehicle technology. Below a depth of about 3000m the density of liquid CO2 exceeds that of sea water, and the experiment is gravitationally stable. The researchers have found that under these circumstances liquid CO2 is quickly converted into a solid hydrate, and that deep sea animals approaching very close to this solid show no apparent reaction. Monterey Bay researchers suggest that this solid hydrate has a very long life in the deep ocean, and that the escape rate of CO2 from the solid matrix is exceptionally slow. They project that the vast size and enormous chemical buffer capacity of the ocean offers exceptional promise for large scale carbon sequestration.

In this project researchers plan to continue this work, and to extend the measurements to the longer term for the purposes of: 1) determining the long-term fate of CO2 hydrate in the deep sea; 2) investigating the deep sea biological responses to this material; 3) investigating the geochemical changes in marine sediments and pore waters associated with CO2 disposal, and 4.) investigating the transfer of CO2 from the hydrate phase to the oceanic water column as a boundary condition for ocean modeling of the fate of released material. The researchers propose using a combination of Remotely Operated Vehicle technology, time lapse cameras, and spectroscopy to carry out the project at a site off northern California.

Proposed DOE share: $362,740
Participant share: $ 72,550
Duration: 36 months
Address: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039

Point of Contact: Tayeko Yamada (831) 775-1803

Sequestration Project Details

Washington University, St. Louis, MO - These researchers with work on one of the interrelated proposals by independent research groups on the overall sequestration study Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is conducting (see Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute description). Washington University's researchers will be involved in the first direct analyses on the sea floor of carbon dioxide-containing hydrates, their entrained and surrounding fluids, and sediments adjacent to these hydrates.

Washington University will be responsible for 1) initially carrying out simulation experiments and instrumental calibrations for Monterey Bay Aquarium's spectrometer probe and 2) studying CO2-clathrate-sediment interactions on the sea floor. These researchers say their analytical technique has far-reaching implications for the monitoring of synthetic and natural clathrate hydrates formed by any process on the sea floor, as well as other minerals and material in contact with them. In the latter regard, it could be adapted as a tool by industry to monitor corrosion effects on CO2 sequestration hardware in the ocean.

Proposed DOE share: $492,000
Participant share: $184,520
Duration: 36 months
Address: Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130

Point of Contact: Ms. Cindy White (314) 935-5889

Sequestration Project Details

Terrestrial sequestration - In this category, the department, through its Office of Fossil Energy and Office of Science, will work with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop ways to enhance the natural carbon dioxide-absorbing processes of soils and vegetation. A particular emphasis will be placed on integrating measures for enhancing the carbon uptake of farmland, forests and other terrestrial ecosystems with fossil fuel production and use.

Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX - These researchers aim to help reduce the negative effects of global warming by storing carbon in trees on abandoned mine lands in the Appalachian region. The project will evaluate a reclamation/ reforestation program and develop a free trade market system for trading carbon credits.

The study will demonstration an effective alternative which may 1.) reduce the cost of sequestration down to an estimated $5 or less per ton of carbon, 2.) develop an environmentally safe use of mine lands for sequestration, and 3.) accomplish long-term carbon storage sequestration. The results of this project will determine how to increase carbon sequestration in forests while increasing forest yields and other desirable ecosystem goods and services.

Proposed DOE share: $587,300
Participant share: $172,660
Duration: 36 months
Address: Stephen F. Austin State University, P.O. Box 13024-SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX 75962

Point of Contact: Dr. Gary D. Kronrad (409) 468-6606

Sequestration Project Details

Advanced concepts - This category invited proposals for novel chemical or biological methods for converting carbon dioxide into either commercial products or into inert, long-lived stable compounds.

Ohio University, Athens, OH - Researchers here have developed a novel biologically-based process to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-powered generation units. The work in this project will focus on developing system-level design techniques to create a 'near-optimal' enhanced photo synthetic process.

In this effort, photosynthetic organisms are attached to specially designed growth surfaces arranged in a bioreactor to minimize pressure drop. Hybrid lighting minimizes power consumption and enhances system performance. A harvesting system ensures maximum organism growth and CO2 uptake rate. In addition, using innovations developed at the Ohio University Multiphase Corrosion Center, bicarbonate concentrations to the cyanobacteria are enhanced, further increasing growth rate and carbon utilization. Researchers believe this innovation may hold the key to expanding the applicability of this procedure from its original target of scrubbed units to all fossil generation units, because the process of bicarbonate enhancement increases moisture content and lowers exhaust gas temperature, which stimulates CO2 uptake by the cyanobacteria.

Proposed DOE share: $1.075 million
Participant share: $ 239,300
Duration: 36 months
Address: Ohio University, 105 Research and Technology Building, Athens, OH 45701

Point of Contact: Dr. Carol Blum (740) 593-2856

Sequestration Project Details

Advanced concepts - This category invited proposals for novel chemical or biological methods for converting carbon dioxide into either commercial products or into inert, long-lived stable compounds.

Physical Sciences, Inc., Andover, MA - In this project researchers will develop technologies for recovery and sequestration of CO2 from stationary combustion systems by photo synthesis of micro-algae. The research is aimed primarily at quantifying the efficacy of micro-algae-based carbon sequestration at the industrial scale. The principal research activities will be focused on demonstrating the ability of selected species of micro-algae to effectively fix carbon from typical power plant exhaust gases. The final results will be used as the basis to evaluate the technical efficacy and associated economic performance of large-scale carbon sequestration facilities.

The project calls for developing key technologies to 1) treat effluent gases from fossil fuel combustion systems; 2) transferring the recovered CO2 into aquatic media; and 3) converting CO2 efficiently by photo synthetic reactions to materials to be re-used or sequestered.

Proposed DOE share: $1.7 million
Participant share: $ 679,083
Duration: 36 months
Address: Physical Sciences, Inc., New England Business Center, Andover, MA 01810-1077

Contact: Mary L. DeLeo, (978) 983-2270