Core sampling signals next step in large-scale sequestration project

BLUEFUELENERGY.COM: A large-scale carbon dioxide sequestration project is under development in northern British Columbia, Canada. The project is located near Spectra Energy’s Fort Nelson natural gas processing plant. The project is an international collaboration that includes Spectra Energy, the Province of British Columbia, Natural Resources Canada, the Plains CO2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

In its press release the DOE describes the project as one of the first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage projects in a saline aquifer in North America. With projected storage of over two million tons of CO2 per year it is slated to be one of the largest carbon sequestration projects in the world. The goal of the project is to develop technology, infrastructure and regulations for the implementation of large-scale CO2 sequestration.

The PCOR Partnership has begun collecting core samples and is implementing a well logging program. “Core sampling and well logging help determine a site’s geologic suitability for safe and permanent storage of CO2. Coring of the Elk Point rock formations at Fort Nelson will provide researchers, geologists, and reservoir experts with characterization data of the carbonate formations that will be used to store the CO2 and the impermeable shale layers above that will act as a cap rock to contain the CO2. As part of these activities, numerous geomechanical and geochemical tests designed to evaluate the performance of the reservoir and containment rocks will be performed.

The information collected from the core samples, together with tests and well logging, will be critical in developing simulation models and the anticipated design and implementation of CO2 injection. The project is expected to involve the eventual transportation of CO2 from Spectra Energy’s Fort Nelson natural gas processing plant to the injection site.”

This is just one of many stories about CO2 capture and storage appearing recently. For Blue Fuel/DME producers these news stories are promising ones. For conventional producers of Blue Fuel/DME from coal and natural gas feedstocks, the development of carbon capture and storage technology at the production stage is crucial for the acceptance of their product in a world increasingly dominated by the concept of carbon-neutrality. In addition, should producers of conventional or carbon-neutral Blue Fuel/DME sell their product for utilization at a point source such as an electrical power plant, carbon capture and storage at the end stage would further enhance the green profile of their fuel, increase its competitive edge and further reduce its impact on global climate change.

Economic stimulus package to provide funding for carbon capture, storage and related technologies

BLUEFUELENERGY.COM   If there were a contest for "Catchphrase of the Year", this year's winner would surely be "economic stimulus package". You cannot turn on a radio or television without hearing the phrase. But for all the talk, what do we know about how these packages will be applied in the real world?

The American economic stimulus packages takes the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestments Act (ARRA). An example of how the act will manifest itself in the energy field is presented in a US Department of Energy (DOE) press release:

"In response to ARRA, the Department of Energy's National Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to issue, on behalf of the DOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled "Carbon Capture and Sequestration from Industrial Sources". DOE plans to issue the FOA in March 2009.

The purpose of the FOA is to issue a new, two-part competitive solicitation: (a) Large-scale industrial CCS projects from industrial sources; (b) Innovative concepts for beneficial CO2 reuse.

(a) Large-scale industrial CCS projects from industrial sources: The large-scale CCS projects include integration of CO2 capture, transportation, and sequestration incorporating comprehensive Monitoring, Verification and Accounting (MVA). The projects may include plant efficiency improvements for integration with CO2 capture technology, and projects that couple capture with CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to advance EOR as a sequestration option. The industrial sources include, but are not limited to, cement plants, chemical plants, refineries, steel and aluminum plants, manufacturing facilities, natural gas processing, and petroleum coke-fired and other power plants.... DOE's objectives are to operate at commercial scale in a commercial setting, technologies that make progress towards capture and sequestration of 75% of the CO2 that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and at a scale sufficient to evaluate the full impact of the CO2 capture technology on plant operations, economics, and performance...

(b) Innovative concepts for beneficial CO2 reuse: The innovative concepts for beneficial CO2 use/reuse include, but are not limited to, CO2 mineralization to carbonates directly through conversion of CO2 in the flue gas or indirectly through capture of CO2 from air, use of CO2/algae for biomass production, conversion of CO2 to fuel and chemicals, and desalinization of water produced from CO2 storage in saline formations."

Blue Fuel Energy applauds DOE's efforts to launch such progressive proposals. We particularly appreciate the "outside the box" thinking involved in the pursuit of innovative concepts for the beneficial reuse of CO2 - concepts that Blue Fuel Energy may well use to produce carbon-neutral Blue Fuel/DME. If these are the kinds of projects that will be pursued through the various economic stimulus packages around the world, then we may well weather this economic downturn and emerge in a cleaner, more sustainable future.