Tri-State to participate in $4.8 million carbon sequestration project

Geologic formations in western Colorado will be studied for their ability to sequester carbon dioxide underground in a major research assessment to be conducted by a partnership including Tri-State, the University of Utah, Colorado Geological Survey, Shell Exploration and Production, Schlumberger Carbon Services and the Utah Geological Survey. The project was awarded a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; the project participants are providing the remainder of the funding.

The goal of the three-year project is to evaluate the potential of carbon dioxide sequestration at a site near Craig, Colo., and to determine the carbon sequestration potential throughout the Rocky Mountain region. If successful, this test site could potentially serve as a regional sequestration site for power plants, gas processing plants, oil shale production and other industries that are a significant part of western Colorado’s economy.

The University of Utah and the Colorado Geological Survey are leading the project, which brings together scientists from both the Colorado and Utah geological surveys, in collaboration with other states’ geological surveys, to assess sequestration opportunities in the Rocky Mountain region.

“This project will provide a fundamental geological baseline of the potential for major candidate rock formations in the region to safely and permanently store carbon dioxide,” said Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Brian McPherson, director of the Carbon Science and Engineering Research Center at the University of Utah’s Energy & Geoscience Institute. “Such baseline is absolutely critical before commercial-scale sequestration can be deployed.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to build on the scientific work that the Colorado Geological Survey has been conducting since 2003 in cooperation with Dr. McPherson and the Southwest Partnership for Carbon Sequestration,” said Dr. Vincent Matthews, Colorado State Geologist and Director of the Colorado Geological Survey.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter recognized the project. “This was a highly competitive process so congratulations are due to all who collaborated in this winning proposal,” Gov. Ritter said. “A vital part of our New Energy Economy initiative is finding cleaner ways of producing and consuming traditional fuels. This grant award will enable us to expand our research into the viability of climate protection technologies such as carbon sequestration, which is not only important for northwest Colorado, but also for carbon sequestration potential throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.”

The study will be focused near Craig, Colo., where Tri-State operates the Craig Station coal-based power plant. “As part of our Greenhouse Gas Management Roadmap, this site specific carbon dioxide sequestration assessment complements Tri-State’s ongoing participation in collaborative demonstrations of carbon capture technology in power plants,” said Ken Anderson, Tri-State’s executive vice president and general manager. “Together, these research efforts can develop options to manage carbon dioxide at a significant scale.”

Schlumberger Carbon Services vice president John Tombari said, “Schlumberger is pleased to participate in this important next step by providing expertise in the detailed subsurface characterization of potential sites in Colorado and the West for the safe, long-term geologic storage of CO2.”

The site is one of several in the region that could be developed to provide storage for much of the point-source carbon dioxide currently produced in the region. The data collected and the best practices developed will identify needs for future sites and recognize potential hindrances with recommended remedies allowing for much faster development of future carbon dioxide storage sites.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded $3.8 million for the project, which is one of 11 projects nationwide awarded a total of $75.5 million to conduct site characterization of promising geologic formations for carbon dioxide storage. These Recovery Act projects will increase the understanding of the potential to safely and permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground. The information gained from these projects will further efforts to develop a national assessment of carbon dioxide storage capacity in deep geologic formations.

About the partners:

• Colorado Geological Survey – The Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) is a state government agency within the Department of Natural Resources whose mission is to help reduce the impact of geologic hazards on the citizens of Colorado, to promote responsible economic development of mineral and energy resources, provide geologic insight into water resources, provide avalanche safety training and forecasting, and to provide geologic advice and information to a variety of constituencies.

 

• Utah Geological Survey – The Utah Geological Survey, a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, provides timely scientific information about Utah's geologic environment, resources, and hazards.

 

• Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association – Based in the Denver suburb of Westminster, Tri-State is the wholesale power supplier to 44 electric cooperatives throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska. It operates a 5,200 transmission network covering its 250,000 square-mile service territory.

 

• Shell Exploration and Production Company – Shell Exploration and Production Company is a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, and an affiliate of the Shell Group, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies operating in more than 140 countries and territories. Shell is one of America's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers, petrochemical manufacturers and leaders in technology development regarding wind, biofuels, solar, hydrogen and oil shale research and development. In Colorado, Shell has been conducting oil shale research and development at its Mahogany Research Project where it is developing its innovative In situ (in-ground) Conversion Process, or ICP, to responsibly recover oil and gas from oil shale. As an energy and technology leader, Shell has made a strategic choice to work responsibly across a broad portfolio, including conventional oil and gas, gas-to-liquids, unconventional oil and alternative energy.

 

• Schlumberger Carbon Services – Schlumberger Carbon Services provides comprehensive geological storage solutions for carbon dioxide, consistent with care for health, safety, and the environment. Technical expertise, project management and technology are leveraged from more than 80 years of proven subsurface evaluation experience in the oil and gas industry.

 

• University of Utah – A Research I university serving the Rocky Mountain region. Faculty, students and other full-time researchers at the university are leading aggressive climate-change and energy research portfolios, including a comprehensive program focused on geologic carbon sequestration.

Updated: September 17, 2009