Comparative analysis of carbon dioxide storage resource assessment methodologies

Abstract

Today, an increased emphasis on the distribution, potential volume, and cost to develop CO 2 geologic sequestration resources exists. In the presence of climate change, the need to make accurate and clearly understandable assessments of carbon sequestration potential, which can be used by the government and industry to plan for technology deployment, has never been greater. We compare three CO 2 storage assessment methodologies: the approach applied by the U.S. Department of Energy in its Carbon Atlas III, the modified U.S. Geological Survey methodology, and the CO 2 Geological Storage Solutions methodology. All three methodologies address storage resources in porous geologic media in sedimentary basins, namely oil and gas reservoirs and saline formations. Based on our analyses, these methodologies are similar in terms of computational formulation. We find that each of the proposed methodologies is science and engineering based. As such, they are important in identifying the geographical distribution of CO 2 storage resource and regional carbon sequestration potential at the national and basin-scale levels for use in energy-related government policy and business decisions. Policy makers need these high-level estimates to evaluate the prospective function that carbon capture and sequestration technologies can play in reducing CO 2 emissions over the long term. The value of these high-level assessments of CO 2 storage resource is to help inform decision makers in governments and industry as to whether carbon capture and sequestration is a climate mitigation option worth pursuing in particular regions.

Beyond Social Acceptability: Applying Lessons from CCS Social Science to Support Deployment of BECCS

“…Research has drawn on varied theoretical concepts including social licence to operate [22,41], media representations (e.g., [42,43]), and justice and human rights (e.g., [44]). There has been a strong emphasis on risk and risk communication; L'Orange Siego et al [26] highlight the importance of mental models and knowledge to draft risk communication material, and the importance of benefit perceptions and trust, the importance of stakeholder engagement and experience of other technologies, findings echoed by many [4,19,31,36,45,46].…”

Cost Implications of Uncertainty in CO2 Storage Resource Estimates: A Review

“…In this way, volumetric estimates of storage resources could be misleading without considering this important constraint (International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG) 2014). Dooley (2011) and others (e.g., Popova et al 2012;IEA 2015b) suggest that high-level assessments of the TASR have value in providing information about the prospective role that CCS could play as an option for mitigating CO 2 emissions over the long term in many countries and regions, and that this information could help decision makers in both the public and private sectors regarding whether or not to pursue and further develop CCS (projects) in those regions. This could be a valid use of the valuable information that high-level CO 2 storage resource assessments provide.…”

Time-of-Flight Distributions and Breakthrough Curves in Heterogeneous Porous Media Using a Pore-Scale Streamline Tracing Algorithm

“…The study of flow and transport phenomena in sedimentary rocks is important in a range of scientific and engineering applications, such as water management, contaminant transport (Sahimi 2011), oil & gas recovery (Lake 1996) and geological carbon storage (Szulczewski et al 2012;Popova et al 2012). With the advent of X-ray microtomography, high-resolution images of the pore space of sedimentary rocks (a few microns voxel size) have been made available.…”