Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership – Validation Phase

Primary Performing Organization:
Southern States Energy Board

The Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), led by the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB), is one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP) created by DOE in 2003 as part of a national plan to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. SECARB represents the 11 southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, plus counties in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Phase II, or the Validation Phase (2005 – 2009), is the second phase of the three phase RCSP program. This phase builds upon the two years of fact finding of the program’s first phase, the Characterization Phase.. Each Partnership project is distinct in its geology, land use, and population base. SECARB’s validation project is devoted to conducting validation field tests of carbon sequestration technologies in four of the most promising geologic formations in the region, and to evaluating options and potential opportunities for carbon sequestration in the southeast. See Map.

The “stacked formations”, oil fields overlying deep saline reservoirs, along the Gulf Coast, and more specifically in the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, are a prime target area for geologic CO₂ storage. SECARB’s research estimated 34 billion metric tonnes (37 billion tons) of potential storage capacity in the region’s depleted oil and natural gas fields. Coal seams are among the most attractive potential CO₂ sinks occurring in the Southeastern United States, where a prolific coalbed methane industry, which has produced more than 2.3 trillion standard cubic feet (Tscf) of natural gas, is approaching maturity. An estimated 44 billion metric tonnes (48 billion tons) of potential storage capacity exists in the region’s unmineable coal seams.

Saline formations are the primary CO₂ geologic storage options for the SECARB region because of the extensive saline formations that underlie many of the power plants in the region. SECARB’s research estimated a low-end storage potential quantity of 2,275 billion metric tonnes (2,502 billion tons) of potential sequestration in saline formations in the region. Work performed during the Characterization Phase showed that saline formations with favorable sequestration potential underlie Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, East Texas, and Tennessee.