Geologic storage of carbon dioxide as a climate change mitigation strategy: performance requirements and the implications of surface seepage

Hepple, Robert P.; Benson, Sally M.

doi:10.1007/s00254-004-1181-2

Cited by 179 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Our estimates are almost certainly not an upper bound on storage costs. As previously stated, site configuration, monitoring, and long-term liability practices have not yet been established (Benson et al, 2002;Hepple and Benson, 2005), and we do not include other potentially significant expenses such as compensating property owners (Gresham et al, 2010). Other factors beyond the scope of this study can also affect costs, such as obtaining legal rights to the pore space needed for storage, estimates for which range between $0.4 and $11/tCO 2 (Duncan et al, 2009;Gresham et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While this new version of our cost module now allows for a more comprehensive estimation of storage costs, we recognize that though regulations for sequestration have been developed in the United States (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2010), site configuration, monitoring, and long-term liability practices for CO 2 storage have not yet been established (Benson et al, 2002;Hepple and Benson, 2005). This implies that many of the expenses compiled by the EPA are tentative.…”

Section: Cost Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

et al. 2012

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While numerous studies find that deep-saline sandstone aquifers in the United States could store many decades worth of the nation's current annual CO 2 emissions, the likely cost of this storage (i.e. the cost of storage only and not capture and transport costs) has been harder to constrain. We use publicly available data of key reservoir properties to produce geo-referenced rasters of estimated storage capacity and cost for regions within 15 deep-saline sandstone aquifers in the United States. The rasters reveal the reservoir quality of these aquifers to be so variable that the cost estimates for storage span three orders of magnitude and average > $100/tonne CO 2 . However, when the cost and corresponding capacity estimates in the rasters are assembled into a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC), we find that~75% of the estimated storage capacity could be available for b $2/tonne. Furthermore,~80% of the total estimated storage capacity in the rasters is concentrated within just two of the aquifers-the Frio Formation along the Texas Gulf Coast, and the Mt. Simon Formation in the Michigan Basin, which together make up only~20% of the areas analyzed. While our assessment is not comprehensive, the results suggest there should be an abundance of low-cost storage for CO 2 in deep-saline aquifers, but a majority of this storage is likely to be concentrated within specific regions of a smaller number of these aquifers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cost Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

et al. 2012

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“…Time scales of a few centuries to a few thousand years are likely sufficient for sequestered CO 2 to remain out of the atmosphere globally to address climate change over the next few hundred years while fossil-fuel resources remain abundant, although to date, no time scale has been established by regulation for CO 2 retention in GCS systems in North America. Differences between GCS and RWD can also be seen in the existence of an acceptable global leakage rate for CO 2 calculated at between 0.01-0.1% per year of sequestered CO 2 (Hepple and Benson 2005). For RWD, an acceptable rate of radionuclide migration is not defined a priori; it is typically constrained indirectly by regulatory requirements limiting radiation exposure to individuals.…”

Section: General Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the last ten years or so, the pace of investigations into GCS has grown rapidly. For example, studies of capacity (e.g., Bradshaw et al 2007), cost (Friedmann et al 2006), effectiveness (Hepple and Benson 2005), potential impacts (Oldenburg 2007), regulatory and legal aspects (Wilson et al 2003), and pilot projects (Litynski et al 2006) among many others have been published in the last few years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Assessment of Status and Opportunities for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and Radioactive Waste Disposal in North America

Oldenburg

Birkhölzer

2011

Advances in Global Change Research

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Aside from the target storage regions being underground, geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) and radioactive waste disposal (RWD) share little in common in North America. The large volume of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) needed to be sequestered along with its relatively benign health effects present a sharp contrast to the limited volumes and hazardous nature of high-level radioactive waste (RW). There is well-documented capacity in North America for 100 years or more of sequestration of CO 2 from coal-fired power plants. Aside from economics, the challenges of GCS include lack of fully established legal and regulatory framework for ownership of injected CO 2 , the need for an expanded pipeline infrastructure, and public acceptance of the technology. As for RW, the USA had proposed the unsaturated tuffs of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the region's first high-level RWD site before removing it from consideration in early 2009. The Canadian RW program is currently evolving with options that range from geologic disposal to both decentralized and centralized permanent storage in surface facilities. Both the USA and Canada have established legal and regulatory frameworks for RWD. The most challenging technical issue for RWD is the need to predict repository performance on extremely long time scales (10 4 -10 6 years). While attitudes toward nuclear power are rapidly changing as fossil-fuel costs soar and changes in climate occur, public perception remains the most serious challenge to opening RW repositories. Because of the many significant differences between RWD and GCS, there is little that can be shared between them from regulatory, legal, transportation, or economic perspectives. As for public perception, there is currently an opportunity to engage the public on the benefits and risks of both GCS and RWD as they learn more about the urgent energy-climate crisis created by greenhouse gas emissions from current fossil-fuel combustion practices.3

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“…Hepple and Benson (6) determined that a 1% leak rate will result in the return on most of the sequestered carbon to the atmosphere after 400 years. They show that long term global performance requirement for stabilization of atmospheric levels at 350, 450, or 550 ppm required a leak rate less than 0.01%; that stabilization at 650 to 750 ppm required a leak rate less than 0.1%; and that rates of 0.01 to 0.1% are required to achieve mitigation of climate effects of atmospheric CO 2 (16).…”

Section: Acceptable Leak Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of a perfluorocarbon tracer based monitoring network to support monitoring verification and accounting of sequestered CO₂

Watson

Sullivan

2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. The levels of CO 2 in the atmosphere have been growing since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The current level is 391 ppm. If there are no efforts to mitigate CO 2 emissions, the levels will rise to 750 ppm by 2100. Geologic carbon sequestration is one strategy that may be used to begin to reduce emissions. Sequestration will not be effective unless reservoir leak rates are significantly less than 1%. There must be rigorous monitoring protocols in place to ensure sequestration projects meet regulatory and environmental goals. Monitoring for CO 2 leakage directly is difficult because of the large background levels and variability of CO 2 in the atmosphere. Using tracers to tag the sequestered CO 2 can mitigate some of the difficulties of direct measurement but a tracer monitoring network and the levels of tagging need to be carefully designed. Simple diffusion and dispersion models are used to predict the surface and atmospheric concentrations that would be seen by a network monitoring a sequestration site. Levels of tracer necessary to detect leaks from 0.01 to 1% are presented and suggestions for effective monitoring and protection of global tracer utility are presented.

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Geologic storage of carbon dioxide as a climate change mitigation strategy: performance requirements and the implications of surface seepage

Cited by 179 publications

References 5 publications

The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

Comparative Assessment of Status and Opportunities for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and Radioactive Waste Disposal in North America

Design of a perfluorocarbon tracer based monitoring network to support monitoring verification and accounting of sequestered CO₂

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Geologic storage of carbon dioxide as a climate change mitigation strategy: performance requirements and the implications of surface seepage

Cited by 179 publications

References 5 publications

The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

The impact of geologic variability on capacity and cost estimates for storing CO2 in deep-saline aquifers

Comparative Assessment of Status and Opportunities for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and Radioactive Waste Disposal in North America

Design of a perfluorocarbon tracer based monitoring network to support monitoring verification and accounting of sequestered CO2

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Design of a perfluorocarbon tracer based monitoring network to support monitoring verification and accounting of sequestered CO₂