Carbon Sequestration - Partnerships
Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships - Validation Phase
Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership
The Big Sky Sequestration Partnership is led by Montana State University and
includes Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and eastern parts of Oregon
and Washington. In the Validation Phase, the Partnership will focus on geologic
and terrestrial field validation tests that assess the relative efficiency
of alternative sequestration options, prove the environmental efficacy and
sustainability of sequestration, verify regional CO2 sequestration capacities, and satisfy project
permitting and regulatory requirements. The Partnership has proposed two geologic
and three terrestrial field tests. The Partnership’s primary geologic
effort is to demonstrate mineralization processes and carbon storage in mafic/basalt
rock formations, a geology not yet well characterized but with significant
long-term storage potential in the region. Its terrestrial efforts will focus
on cropland, rangeland, and forestland sequestration and demonstrate the marketability
of an emerging pilot carbon market.
Geologic Sequestration Field Validations Tests |
Project Description
|
Qty of CO2
Injected/
Stored |
Source of CO2 |
Potential Capacity |
Test Location |
Title: Basalt and Mafic Rock Field Validation Test |
Demonstrate carbon storage in a mafic/basalt rock formation. The test will assess the mineralogical, geochemical, and hydrologic impact of injected CO2 within the reservoir and incorporate site monitoring and verification activities such as downhole vertical seismic profiling, wireline logging, downhole geochemical sampling, stable isotopic, noble gas, and introduced tracers, and atmospheric monitoring.
|
~3,000 tons |
Purchase commercially |
>100,000 MT CO2 |
Grand Ronde Basalt, Eastern Washington (RRL-2 well, Hanford Site) Columbia River Basalt Group |
Title: Reactive Carbonate Reservoir (Madison Formation)
Field Validation Test |
Assess long-term CO2 mineralization rates in a carbonate aquifer, utilizing an ongoing, long-term EOR site. The project will focus on the consequences of the long-term exposure of carbonate rocks to CO2-rich fluids and model and match pre-injection conditions to assess changes in water chemistry and indirect changes in the rocks to assess carbon sequestration potential.
|
N/A – Piggyback on previous EOR operation to assess mineralization in carbonate formations |
Natural Gas Purification |
TBD at end of Phase I |
Madison Formation in WY and MT (Lost Soldier and Wertz Oil Fields in WY) |
Terrestrial Sequestration Field Validations Tests |
| Project Description |
Regional Sink CO2 Capacity |
Partners Involved |
Value-Added Products |
Test Location |
Title: Cropland Field Validation Test |
Implement MMV strategies aimed at accurately assessing incremental sequestration due to land management change and relating that to cost/value of carbon credits. Key systems knowledge and tools developed during Phase I to facilitate a market‑based sequestration approaches will be employed along with new MMV tools in Phase II enrolled farm fields to assess soil sequestration rates for audit procedures, compare measurement costs using advanced technologies, and verify land management practices for auditing purposes via newly developed image analysis methods that have shown high accuracies.
|
~60 MT CO2 over 20 years |
MSU, SDSMT, LANL,
NCOC |
Carbon Credits, increased crop productivity, and water quality improvement |
North Central MT and other selected locations in the Big Sky Partnership |
Title: Rangeland Sequestration Potential Assessment |
Characterize the region’s rangeland and develop a Best Management Practice handbook that identifies, describes, and provides data for rangelands with the greatest potential to sequester carbon that could be used in future carbon trading protocols. The project will focus on MMV technologies and protocols involving sampling approaches to determine the economic feasibility in response to time and resources required.
|
~30MT CO2 over 10 years |
University of Wyoming |
Carbon Credits |
Region-Wide |
Title: Forestry Field Validation Test |
Identify strategies for maintaining or even increasing the potential for sequestration in forests through understanding the effects of forest management on different carbon pools in forests. |
640 – 1040 MT CO2 over 80 years |
MSU,
NCOC |
Carbon Credits, wood products, biomass for co-firing, & improved water & air quality |
Region-Wide |
Big Sky Partnership Contacts: |
| DOE Technical Point of Contact: |
Principal Investigator: |
Dave Lang
DOE-NETL
Phone (412) 386-4881
Fax (412) 386-5917 |
Susan M. Capalbo
Montana State University-Bozeman
Phone Number: (406) 994-5619
Fax Number: (406) 994-415 |
|
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