Topical Report

Characterization of geological sinks for sequestration of CO{sub 2} in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington was carried out as part of Phase I of the West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB) project. Results show that there are geologic storage opportunities in the region within each of the following major technology areas: saline formations, oil and gas reservoirs, and coal beds. The work focused on sedimentary basins as the initial most-promising targets for geologic sequestration. Geographical Information System (GIS) layers showing sedimentary basins and oil, gas, and coal fields in those basins were developed. The GIS layers were attributed with information on the subsurface, including sediment thickness, presence and depth of porous and permeable sandstones, and, where available, reservoir properties. California offers outstanding sequestration opportunities because of its large capacity and the potential of value-added benefits from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and enhanced gas recovery (EGR). The estimate for storage capacity of saline formations in the ten largest basins in California ranges from about 150 to about 500 Gt of CO{sub 2}, depending on assumptions about the fraction of the formations used and the fraction of the pore volume filled with separate-phase CO{sub 2}. Potential CO{sub 2}-EOR storage was estimated to be 3.4 Gt, based on a screening of reservoirs using depth, an API gravity cutoff, and cumulative oil produced. The cumulative production from gas reservoirs (screened by depth) suggests a CO{sub 2} storage capacity of 1.7 Gt. In Oregon and Washington, sedimentary basins along the coast also offer sequestration opportunities. Of particular interest is the Puget Trough Basin, which contains up to 1,130 m (3,700 ft) of unconsolidated sediments overlying up to 3,050 m (10,000 ft) of Tertiary sedimentary rocks. The Puget Trough Basin also contains deep coal formations, which are sequestration targets and may have potential for enhanced coal bed methane recovery (ECBM)

Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration

The Southwest Partnership Region includes six whole states, including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah, roughly one-third of Texas, and significant portions of adjacent states. The Partnership comprises a large, diverse group of expert organizations and individuals specializing in carbon sequestration science and engineering, as well as public policy and outreach. The main objective of the Southwest Partnership project is to achieve an 18% reduction in carbon intensity by 2012. The Partnership made great progress in this first year. Action plans for possible Phase II carbon sequestration pilot tests in the region are almost finished, including both technical and non-technical aspects necessary for developing and carrying out these pilot tests. All partners in the Partnership are taking an active role in evaluating and ranking optimum sites and technologies for capture and storage of CO{sub 2} in the Southwest Region. We are identifying potential gaps in all aspects of potential sequestration deployment issues