B. KUMARProject Adviser/Consultant

Carbon Sequestration

NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTEHyderabad-500 007 INDIA

Ph. 91-40-23434680 (O)91-40-27175910 (R)

E-mail: baleshk@yahoo.com

Unconventional Sources of Fossil Fuel and Carbon Management : India’s Perspective

What are Unconventional Sources ?

• Oil Shale• Coal Bed Methane• Gas Hydrates • Shale and Tight Gas• Coal Liquefaction

What is Carbon Management ?• Carbon management is a new world wide R & D

initiative for capture and storage of CO2 to mitigate global climate change and is one of greatest environmental challenge the world community is facing. The capture of CO2 from point sources and storing it in geological formations such as depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs for oil/gas recovery, coal beds, deep saline aquifers and basalt formations are the most viable options.

• The fossil fuel based thermal power stations are the largest point sources of CO2 emissions, which is a green house gas and is the major cause of global climate change.

Global Climate Change is not a Myth but Truth

Evidence:

- Rise in Atmospheric CO2 & Temperature

- Shrinking of Glaciers

- Breaking of Arctic Shelf

- Rise in Sea Level

- Extreme Weather Conditions

Ice cores indicate that in the past 420,000 years, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has ranged from 180 to 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv). The current CO2 atmospheric concentration is ~375 ppmv; this dramatic increase is primarily the result of human combustion of fossil fuels (Modified after Falkowskiand others, 2000).

Projected Temperatures for the 21st Century Are Significantly Higher Than at Any Time During the Last 1000 Years

www.clivar.org

Carbon dioxide emissions – 2002Description : Carbon dioxide emissions: Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions st

stemming out from the burning of fossil fuels, gas flaring and the prodproduction of cement

Source : UN Common Database (CDIAC)Category : EnvironmentYear : 2002Units : Giga Metric Tons

1.2

5. 8

Carbon dioxide emissions per capitaDescription : Carbon dioxide emissions per capita Anthropogenic carbon dioxide

emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels, gas flaring and the production of cement.

Source : UN Common Database (CDIAC)Category : EnvironmentRanking : 54 (2002)

Unit of measurement: Metric tons per capita

INDIA

(Tons CO2 perperson)

India signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2003 but is not obliged to cut emissions up to 2012.

- India is also a member of CSLF, CDM, AP6 and stands by UNFCC.

Issues for CO2 Management in India

• R&D Technologies

• Protocols, Mechanisms & Forums– Kyoto Protocol; Clean development Mechanism (CDM);

Carbon sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF); UN Framework Convention Treaty on Climate Changes (UNFCC), Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6) etc.

– India has signed the Kyoto Protocol in 2003 but is not obliged to reduce the emission by 2012 as the per capita emission is very low (~1 metric ton /year). India is a member of CSLF, CDM, AP6 and also stands by UNFCC.

• Safety & Environment

• Economics – The current cost estimates range from 20 to 80 US$/tCO2

for capturing the CO2 and 5 to 20 US$/tCO2 for transportation and storage

India’s energy scenario is mostly driven by coal, oil and gas.

Source: Planning Commission of India, 2006

India’s Energy Scenario

Coal (53%)Oil & Gas

(11%)

Hydro(25%)

Nuclear (3%)Renewable (8%)

India’s Power Scenario

Nuclear + Renewable(2%)

Coal (51%)Oil (36%)

Hydro(2%)

Gas (9%)

Source: OIL, Infraline

World primary energy consumption

ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Primary energy consumption per capita

• R&D initiatives for carbon capture and storage

• Exploration & exploitation of unconventional sources of fossil fuel

• Oil shales (~15 billion tons of in place oil)• Coal bed methane (Prog. resources ~20

tcf)• Gas hydrates (Prog. resources ~2000 tcf)• Shale and tight gas

Challenges of India’s Fossil FuelEnergy Outlook

These are fine grained sedimentary rocks containing relatively large amount of organic matter from which significant quantities of shale oil and combustible gas can be extracted. Oil shales range in age from Cambrian to Tertiary Total world resources of in-place oil of shale is estimated at 2.6 trillion barrelsStudies have shown that similar rocks with most of their oil generating potential are preserved in Northeast India interbeddedwith Tertiary coal. The estimated in-place oil reserve of these carbonaceous shales is greater than 15 billion tons. Oil shale contains no liquid oil in its natural state and must be retorted at high temperatures to convert the solid kerogen to liquid hydrocarbonsRetorting is an energy intensive process in which the rock is heated to 450- 550°C in the absence of oxygen

Oil Shale

OIL SHALE OCCURRENCE in INDIA

• Carbonaceous shale of Oligocene age occurs in association with Tertiary Coal in north east India, Assam and neighboring areas of Arunachal Pradesh

• The coal-shale unit occurs as outcrops towards south of the oilfields in a region called the Belt of Schuppen

• The presence of coal and organic rich shale has been recorded in the subsurface from wells drilled for oil

• The coal-shale unit was probably deposited in a regressive phase in backwater lagoons or brackish water swamps on a prograding delta complex

Geological map of Northeastern part of Assam-Arakan Basin

Source: DGH

Structural map of Assam-Arakan Basin

Oil and gas fields and identified prospects in Assam geologic province (modified from Naidu and Panda, 1997; and Mallick and others, 1997

Surface Retorting

In-situ Retorting

Oil Shale Retorting

Studies of shale samples from Upper Assam Valley resulted in a total hydrocarbon potential of 81 mg/g. and compares favorably with yield known from oil shales elsewhere in the world.

North-East India is endowed with rich deposits of coal found in the Barail Formation of Tertiary age.

Carbonaceous shale occurs interbedded with the coal and constitute the principal source rocks for hydrocarbons. These formations outcrop on the surface towards the south of the oil fields in a region called the Belt of Schuppen.

Oil shales are part of the Barail and Disang formations of northeast India. They are present over the area covered by Naga and Patkai hill ranges.

The calculated in-place shale oil reserve is greater that 15 billion tonnes.

Salient features of oil shales of North East India

• Oil shale deposits usually include certain amounts of carbonates. Due to the decomposition of carbonates, oil shales evolve several times more CO2 during shale oil production than the same amount of petroleum does. This could be a serious defect from the view point of global warming.

• Deep Coal seams of North East India, that are not commercially viable for coal production, could be used for permanent underground storage of CO2 evolved from shale oil production

• CO2 released from oil shale can be used for Enhanced oil recovery in depleted oil fields of North East India.

Carbon management for oil shale of NE, India

The Coal Bed Methane, Prognostic resources for India ~ 20 tcf

DGH, Annual Report, 2006-07

Density of CO2 and CH4 as a function of pressure for various Temperatures based on data from Vargaftik et al. (1996).

DGH, Annual Report, 2006-07

Coal beds typically contain large amounts of methane rich gas that is adsorbed onto the surface of the coal. The injected CO2efficiently displaces methane as it has greater affinity to the coal than methane.

CO2enhanced coal bed methaneproduction

Enhanced Coal bed Methane Recovery (ECBM)

Location in the Eastern Offshore, superimposed on Gas Hydrate stability thickness map along the Indian margin, from where the gas hydrate samples have been recovered. (after Sain & Gupta, 2008)

Possible production methods for Gas Hydrates(after Holder et.al., 1984)

CO2Sequestration in Methane HydratesMethane Hydrates are class of solids in which methane molecules occupy cages made up of hydrogen- bonded water molecules.CO2 can also be stored as hydrates with simultaneous conversion of in situ methane hydrates into natural gas.At temperatures below 10°C, there is a pressure range in which methane hydrate is unstable while CO2 hydrate is stable. The heat released from the formation of CO2 gas hydrate is greater than that needed for CH4 hydrate dissociation:• CH4(H2O)n ⇒ CH4 + nH2O; Hf = 54.49 KJ/mole • CO2(H2O)n ⇒ CO2 + nH2O ; Hf = 57.98 KJ/mole

where n is the hydration number for CH4hydrate and CO2 hydrate

• n is dependent on pressure, temperature and the composition of the gas in the gas phase which implies that under certain pressure and tempera-ture conditions, the replacement of CH4 in the hydrate with CO2 is thermodynamically possible.

After Gas Technology Institute, USA

- Tight gas is a natural gas that occurs in blanket or lenticular sandstones which have an effective permeability of < 1 milliDarcy

- Tight gas can also occur in low permeability carbonates, coal and shale gas

- Shale gas is natural gas produced from low permeability shale beds

What is Shale and Tight Gas?

- The exploration of tight gas/oil in Indian sedimentary basins has not been initiated.

- The basins which may have tight gas/oil potential are : • Cauvery basin – The Bhuvanagiri Formation (Late

Cretaceous), dominantly a low porosity and permeability sandstone above the SattapadiShales may constitutes an important tight oil/ gas petroleum system in the basin.

• Ravva basin – The Early Miocene section in the north east part the Block PKGM-1 (Cairn Energy) of offshore Ravva basin, with low permeability reservoirs could have potential for tight oil/gas.

(Source: Ravi Misra, ONGC)

Tight Gas Occurrences in India

Rajasthan basin - the well RJE-1 drilled in block RJ/ON/90-1, produced approx 0.2MMSCMD gas from the interval 1241-1388m. Besides, additional reserves have been estimated from the deeper (2408-2634m) tight reservoirs. The tested zones failed to flow hydrocarbons to surface because of low permeability conditions .

In addition, the well N-A-1, 8km SE of Manglafield and 52 km NWW of Saraswati discovery (Cairn Energy) encountered oil bearing column of 60-150m in an apparently tight and silt, BarmerHill Formation. The section is planned to be further stimulated and for application of fracture treatment for the recovery of tight gas/oil.

• Proterozoic basin which is under exploration.

• An exploratory well yielded non commercial gas show in the basin @ 2000m3/day.

• The initial exploratory efforts have established that the basin possesses adequate source potential with maturity values supporting them but the poor porosity and permeability development all through the drilled section has hindered further success .

• The average porosity values range from 4-6%.

• The formations are tight and sometimes rendered with fractures, as seen in the limestone section of Jardepahar Porcellanite in the drilled well.

• The basin can be considered as one of the potential area for tight gas exploration.

Vindhyan Basin

Proved world coal reserves at the end of 2006

2478473779711709092960Total2781345541187611383West Bengal10620296766Uttar Pradesh

60984148473097615161Orissa201514Nagaland

45930141117Meghalaya8582162023094653Maharashtra

19232290488157513Madhya Pradesh7220463483043935417Jharkhand399754411261919373Chhattisgarh16016000Bihar3403427279Assam

90194031ArunachalPradesh

16926258460798263Andhra PradeshTotalInferredIndicatedProved

Coal Resources in Million TonnesState

2478473779711709092960Total2781345541187611383West Bengal10620296766Uttar Pradesh

60984148473097615161Orissa201514Nagaland

45930141117Meghalaya8582162023094653Maharashtra

19232290488157513Madhya Pradesh7220463483043935417Jharkhand399754411261919373Chhattisgarh16016000Bihar3403427279Assam

90194031ArunachalPradesh

16926258460798263Andhra PradeshTotalInferredIndicatedProved

Coal Resources in Million TonnesState

2478473779711709092960Total

907369106432Tertiary Coals

2469403742811698492528Gondwana Coals

TotalInferredIndicatedProved Formation

2478473779711709092960Total

907369106432Tertiary Coals

2469403742811698492528Gondwana Coals

TotalInferredIndicatedProved Formation

India's Coal Reserves

SEDIMENTARY BASIN MAP OF INDIA Category Basin Basinal Area (upto 200m (Sq.Km.x 103)isobath)

I Cambay 53Assam Shelf 56 Bombay Offshore 116Krishna Godavari 52Cauvery 55Assam-Arakan 60Rajasthan 126

II Kutch 48Andaman-Nicobar 47

III Himalayan Foreland 30Ganga 186 Vindhyan 162Saurashtra 80Kerala-Konkan-L.dweep 94Mahanadi 69Bengal 89

IV Karewa 4Spiti-Zanskar 22Satpura-Rewa-Damodar 46Narmada 17Deccan Syneclise 273Bhima-Kaladgi 9Cuddapah 39Pranhita-Godavari 15Bastar 5Chattisgarh 32

Total 1,785

Deep WatersKori-Comorin850 ENarcodam 1,350

Source: DGH

India’s Hydrocarbon Resources,Reserves & Production

• Total hydrocarbon resources of India, inclusive of deep waters, are estimated at around 28 billion tonnes oil & oil-equivalent of gas.

• As on April 2007, the ultimate reserves of oil & oil-equivalent of gas established are 3.37 billion tonnes.

• The oil and gas production accounts to be 33.99 (MMT) and 31.75 (BCM), respectively.

Carbon management and exploitation of fossil and alternate sources of fuel (oil shale, coal bed methane, gas hydrates and shale & tight gas) are the key to India’s Energy Future and Security.

Conclusion

Funding mechanisms to support R&D projects for carbon management have to be evaluated. 0.5% tax on power generation in the line of oil tax may be adequate to sustain the same. The tax can be operated by Energy Security Development Board, under the aegis of the Ministry of Power.

R & D Funding for Carbon Management

‘If every country was to spend just 2-3% of their GDP, the impact of possible global climate change could be mitigated’- R.K.Pachauri, Economic Times Corp. Excellence Award for 2006-07, New Delhi (29th Oct., 2007)

• Develop collaborative project on geological sequestration of CO2 with US laboratories.

• Set up centers of excellence on geological sequestration of CO2 and carbon capture.

• Organize IInd Workshop on Carbon Sequestration during January 2007.

Recommendations

•Carbon capture and storage research offers an opportunity to mitigate global concerns about climate change and sustainable future

• Suggested expansion of support to research and CO2 infrastructure from DST and other concerned sectors of economy, under the National Programme on CO2 Sequestration Research

• Establish Centre for Advanced Studies in India for CCS technology to lead R&D projects on Carbon Capture, Geological Sequestration of CO2, Monitoring, Modeling & Simulation studies and Clean Energy Development

• Organize a special session on India’s initiatives on Carbon Capture and Storage R & D during 2008 at an international event.

• Give more thrust to basalt pilot study using sub-basalt imaging techniques and establish baseline for

concentration of CO2 in atmosphere and soil and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in shallow aquifer

• Facilitate inter and intra-networking between national and international projects on CCS technology.

• Indian CO2 Sequestration Applied Research Network to have institutional members and hold periodic meetings to develop an activity profile and framework for support.

• Develop new knowledge partners with multi-disciplinary and multi-stage collaborations for sustainable energy future.

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