Carbon capture and storage has the potential to allow continued use of fossil fuels while mitigating climate change. It involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from large point sources like power plants, compressing and transporting the CO2 via pipeline, and injecting it into deep geological formations for long-term storage. While the technology is possible with current knowledge, large-scale implementation faces challenges of high costs estimated at $1 trillion per year globally, an incomplete legal framework, and open questions about safety and permanent storage that require further study. Pilot projects demonstrate the technical feasibility of capturing CO2 and storing it underground, like the Sleipner gas field in Norway that has stored over 1 million tons of CO2 annually since 1996.

1. Can Carbon Capture and Storage Clean up Fossil Fuels
Geoffrey Thyne
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Institute
University of Wyoming

2. Main Points
 Possible with current science and technologies.
 Future technological advances will reduce cost, improve
efficiency and enhance safety.
 More scientific work needs to be done.
 There is technical knowledge and experience within petroleum
industry.
 CCS is a potentially viable approach, but with legislation
(international and national) creating a carbon-constrained world.
 Legal/Regulatory framework is under construction, but the political
will is questionable.
 CCS industry will be on scale of oil and gas industry in terms of
infrastructure, personnel and $$$.
 Expense is uncertain until large scale projects are completed, but
the likely cost is on order of $1 trillion/year.

3. Carbon (Dioxide) Emissions and Climate Change
 Increase in atmosphere is “linked” to climate changes.
 There is still no proof of the link.

4. Technology Options for Stabilization
The Stabilisation Wedge
Emission trajectory to achieve 500ppm
Emission trajectory BAU
1 GtC Slices of the Stabilisation Wedge

5. Carbon Capture and Sequestration
 First step is capture of carbon applied to large point sources that
currently emit 10,500MtCO2/year (e.g. power stations).
 CO2 would be compressed and transported for storage and use.

6. Large Stationary CO2 Sources
•carbon dioxide sources >0.1 MtCO2/yr
•most (75 %) CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion/processing (coal-fired
power plants are almost 3 wedges)

7. North American CO2 Sources

8. Four basic systems
 Post combustion
 Pre combustion
 Oxyfuel
 Industrial
All gas is mostly CO2 plus N2,
CO, SO2, etc.
All Methods capture 80-95%
of CO2
Carbon Dioxide Capture

9. Carbon Dioxide Capture
Matching captured CO2 to target (P-T)
Four basic systems
 Pre combustion
 Post combustion
 Oxyfuel
 Industrial
Separation stage CO2

10. Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2

11. Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture

12. Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture
Carbon Captured

13. Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture
Carbon Captured
PC
(500 MW)

14. Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided

15. Sequestration Targets
 Terrestrial
 Release into the atmosphere for incorporation into biomass
(short term - 10-100’s years)
 Oceanic
 Release into ocean for dissolution and dispersion (medium
term – 100-1000’s years)
 Geologic
 Injection into subsurface (long term – 10,000-1,000,000’s
years)

16. Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic

17. Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic Disposal into deep ocean locations
Much of the ocean is deep enough for CO2
to remain liquid phase
(average ocean depth is 12,460 feet)
Largest potential storage capacity
(2,000 - 12,000GtCO2 – worldwide)
Storage time 100’s – 1000’s years
Potential ecological damage (pH change)
Models and small scale projects only
Characteristics

18. Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic

19. Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic
Disposal into subsurface locations
Deep enough to remain supercritical
(greater than 2500 feet depth)
Large potential storage capacity
(200 - 2,000GtCO2 worldwide)
Storage time 10,000’s – 1,000,000’s
years
Potential ecological damage (point
source leaks)
40+ years experience in petroleum EOR
operations and sour gas disposal
Characteristics

20. CO2 trapping
mechanisms

21. Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior
Supercritical Fluid is a liquid-like gas
Gas-like viscosity, fluid-like
compressibility and solvent behavior
CO2 above critical T and P
(31°C and 73.8 bar or 1085 psi)
Density about 50% of water
 Combustion product
from fossil fuel
 GHG
 Four phases of interest

22. Carbon Storage
Geological Sequestration
 want to inject to greater than
800 m depth
 CO2 in supercritical state
 behaves like a fluid with
properties that are mixture
of liquid and gas
 also stores more in given
volume
 price to pay in compressing gas

23.  Terrestrial, Oceanic and
Geologic P and T
conditions.
 Ocean conditions allow
disposal of liquid CO2
 Geologic conditions
allow disposal of
supercritical CO2
Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior and
Sequestration

24.  need geologic site that will hold
CO2 safely for 1000s of years –
natural analogs
 four possible geologic targets
 enhanced oil and gas recovery
 depleted oil and gas fields
 saline aquifers
 enhanced CBM recovery
Geological Carbon Sequestration

25. Geological Carbon Sequestration
Leakage Paths

26. Carbon Capture and Sequestration

27. CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization
 Cost data from
IGPCC 2005
 Includes cost of
compression to
pipeline pressure
(1500 psi)
Separation stage CO2
45% difference

28. CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization + Transport
 Price highly
dependent on
volume per year.
 Includes
construction, O&M,
design, insurance,
right of ways.
 for capacities of >5
MtCO2 yr-1 the
cost is between 2
and 4
2002US$/tCO2 per
250km for an
onshore pipe
Separation stage CO2
37% difference

29. CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization + Transport
+ Storage (Oceanic and Geologic)
 Oceanic - For
transport (ship)
distance of 100-
500km and
injection depths of
3000m
 Geologic - For
storage in
onshore, shallow,
highly permeable
reservoir with pre-
existing
infrastructure
Separation stage CO2
31% difference
23% difference

30. CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization + Transport
+ Storage (Oceanic and Geologic) – EOR Offset
 Assuming oil price
of $50 bbl.
 Without
Sequestration
Credit (Carbon
Tax)
Separation stage CO2

31. Pilot Projects
 Sleipner, Norway (North Sea)
 Weyburn Project, Saskatchewan (Canada)

32. Pilot Projects: Sleipner
 Sleipner is a North Sea gas
field
 operated by Statoil,
Norway’s largest oil
company
 produces natural gas for
European market
 in North Sea, hydrocarbons
are produced from platforms

33. Pilot Projects: Sleipner
 special platform, Sleipner
T, built to separate CO2
from natural gas
 supports 20 m (65 ft) tall,
8,000 ton treatment plant
 plant produces 1 million tons
of CO2
 also handles gas piped from
Sleipner West
 Norway has a carbon tax of
about $50/ton for any CO2
emitted to the atmosphere
 to avoid the tax, Statoil has
re-injected CO2
underground since
production began in 1996

34.  production is from Heimdal
Formation
 2,500 m (8,200 ft) below
sea level
 produces natural gas -
mixture of hydrocarbons
(methane (CH4), ethane
(C2H6), butane (C4H10)),
gases (N2, O2, CO2, sulfur
compounds, water)
 the natural gas at Sleipner
has 9 % CO2
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

35.  CO2 injected into Utsira
Formation
 high porosity &
permeability sandstone
layer
 250 m thick and 800 m
(2,600 ft) below sea bed
 filled with saline water, not
oil or gas
 CO2 storage capacity
estimated at 600 billion
tons (20 years of world
CO2 emissions)
 millions tons CO2 stored
since 1996
 first commercial storage of
CO2 in deep, saline aquifer
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

36.  seismic surveys
conducted to determine
location of CO2
 results shown in diagram
to left
 Optimum conditions for
geophysical imaging
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

37. Conclusions
 Ultimately CCS is viable only if legislation (international and
national) produces a carbon-constrained world.
 Legal/Regulatory framework under construction.
 CCS industry will be on scale of oil and gas industry (largest in
human history).
 Expense is uncertain until large scale project completed, but on
order of $1 trillion/year to build CCS industry.
 Possible with current science and technologies.
 Future technological advances will reduce cost, improve
efficiency and enhance safety.
 More scientific work needs to be done.
 There is technical knowledge and experience within petroleum
industry.