CarbonSAFE Illinois Macon CountyEmail PagePrint Page

Project Information

Prime Performer:Illinois State Geological SurveyLocation:Champaign, IL
Project Duration:04/01/2017 - 03/31/2022Agreement Number:FE0029381
Technology Area:Storage InfrastructureTotal Award Value:$11,812,442 
Key Technology:Characterization Field Projects (Onshore & Offshore)DOE Share:$9,199,941 
Performer Share:$2,612,501 
Figure 1: Potential CO2 sources for CarbonSAFE – Macon County.
Figure 1: Potential CO2 sources for CarbonSAFE – Macon County.

Project Description

The Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, along with partners including Schlumberger Carbon Services, Indiana Geological Survey, Brigham Young University, and Richland Community College, will work to establish the feasibility of a commercial-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) geologic storage complex within the Mt. Simon sandstone formation located in Macon County, Illinois. The project is part of the Storage Complex Feasibility Phase of the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative, which aims to perform initial characterization of carbon capture and storage (CCS) complexes with potential for 50 million metric tons or more of industrial-sourced CO2, and to establish feasibility of the complexes for commercial storage (Figure 1). The project team will conduct a commercial-scale initial characterization of a site within the Mt. Simon storage complex and develop datasets of formation parameters in order to evaluate the suitability of the site for CCS. A stratigraphic test well will be drilled in the Forsyth Oil Field to establish the potential capacity for this complex. Static and dynamic modeling will be used to examine the performance of the site and evaluate it for long-term security. The models will be used to identify improvements in storage capacity estimations. A detailed plan will be prepared for further characterization requirements to reduce subsurface uncertainty at this site and for continued work toward commercialization of storage complexes. Public outreach components and permitting requirements, legal issues, and contractual issues will be considered for the project. The project will work towards the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) objective of producing a feasible CCS stacked storage complex in the Illinois Basin region.

Project Benefits

This project will establish the feasibility of a 50 million metric tons or greater commercial-scale CO2 geologic storage complex within the Mt. Simon sandstone formation, in proximity to several major carbon sources. The data and modeling work will be used to validate the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory National Risk Assessment Partnership Toolkit, which is being developed to better understand risks of CCS at the commercial scale. This project will support the DOE Carbon Storage Program’s goals to develop technologies to ensure 99 percent storage permanence, with the ability to predict storage capacity to within plus or minus 30 percent. The effort will also support the Carbon Storage Program mission to develop and advance CCS technologies for widespread commercial deployment in the 2025 to 2035 timeframe that will ensure safe, secure, efficient, and cost-effective CO2 containment in diverse geologic formations.

Presentations, Papers, and Publications

Contact Information

Federal Project Manager:William Aljoe (william.aljoe@netl.doe.gov)
Technology Manager:Mark McKoy (mark.mckoy@netl.doe.gov)
Principal Investigator:Steve Whittaker (sgwhit@illinois.edu)