West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

Richard MyhreBevilacqua-Knight, Inc. (BKi)rmyhre@bki.com(510) 444-8707, ext. 220WESTCARB Outreach Coordinator

Carbon Capture & SequestrationPublic WorkshopBakersfield, CA October 1, 2010

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WESTCARB overview

The West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is:

A team of researchers from more than 90 organizations comprising:– Resource management and environmental

protection agencies – National laboratories and research institutions– Conservation nonprofits– Climate project standards organizations – Energy and pipeline companies – Colleges and universities– Trade associations– Consultants

Led by California Energy Commission (CEC)

Funded by U.S. Department of Energy, CEC, and industrial partners

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WESTCARB: one of seven DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP)

An applied research program in three phases:– Phase I (complete)

focused on regional characterization of CO2 storage capacity and cost

– Phase II (underway) focuses on CO2 storage technology validation via small-scale field tests

– Phase III (beginning) is focusing on pre- commercial (large-scale) geologic CO2 storage field tests

DOE program represents 43 states, 4 provinces, and more

than 350 organizations

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WESTCARB screened sedimentary basins and estimated CO2 storage capacities

30–460 Gt onshore saline formation capacity3.3–5.7 Gt natural gas reservoir capacity1.4–3.7 Gt oil reservoir capacity

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282 Estimated CO2 Storage Resource:California Sedimentary Basins

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WESTCARB’s current basin characterization work focuses on:

Characterizing California’s offshore subsurface environment for CO2 sequestration

Examining salinity in select formations in the southern Sacramento Basin; characterizing the distribution of hydrocarbon pools in several gas fields in the southern Sacramento Basin

Characterizing sedimentary basins in Alaska

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WESTCARB is also conducting an NGCC-CCS retrofit study for California

Approximately 50 F-Class (and a couple of H-Class) gas turbines have been commissioned in California since 1998

Which units could be considered candidates for future CCS retrofit?– Supportive site characteristics for

CO2 capture– Dispatch mode and remaining life – Proximity to storage or transport

Working with PG&E, which is developing a GHG compliance strategy

California’s NGCC Plants in Relation to Areas of Potential Geologic Storage

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WESTCARB field projects

Terrestrial field pilots in California and Oregon– Afforestation

– Forest conservation

– Fuels/fire management

Four geologic site characterization pilots– ECBM/saline in Centralia, WA

– EOR/saline in Kern County, CA (Kimberlina site)

– Saline in Solano County, CA

– Saline in Arizona’s Colorado Plateau

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Geologic characterization at the Cholla site in Arizona

Installation and testing of a well near the fly ash pond at Arizona Public Service’s Cholla Power plant; drilled into saline formations at a depth of nearly 4,000 feet

Reservoir characterization suite:

– Mud logs (0–3,853 ft)

– Rotary side-wall cores (25)

– Open-hole logs (Schlumberger)

– Drill-stem tests of Martin and Supai formations

– Fluid samples

No permeable reservoir options below supercritical CO2 depth of ~2600 feet

Test well at the Cholla Power Plant, AZ

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Kimberlina site characterization

Gathered and analyzed seismic data, prior literature, existing well logs, and USGS information

Created a 3D geologic model

Simulated CO2 injection into a saline formation

Analyzed faults

Assessed project risks using two approaches

Log from a key reference well Kimberlina l-25 ls

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Kimberlina site characterization – modeling

There are >1100 boreholes; strati- graphic data from these wells have been incorporated into the model

Yellow gas pools are >2600 feet depth; green pools are <2600 feet depth

Source: Jeff Wagoner, LLNL

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Simulating CO2 injection and distribution

Parameters: 250,000 tons of CO2 per year for 4 years into the Vedder formation at ~7500 feet

CO2 plume at 20 years is approximately the same as at 200 years (i.e., immobilization takes place within a decade or two after completion of injection operations)

Source: Christine Doughty, LBNL

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WESTCARB’s public outreach program

Community meetings throughout WESTCARB territory

Middle and high school science teachers’ trainings

Contributions to public domain information on CCS– Website and interactive carbon atlas– Project reports and DOE “best practices”

manuals

Support for policymaking – IEPRs; AB 1925 Report to the Legislature– Technical advisory work for the California

CCS Review Panel

Independent public perception research by social scientists

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Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is fundamental to life on earth

What is CO2 ?

CO2 is in the air we breathe and is essential to life – plants could not live and the planet would be inhospitable without it

CO2 is not poisonous; it doesn’t burn or explode

CO2 is not a water pollutant or a hazardous waste

CO2 helps regulate the climate

Too much CO2 in the atmosphere is contributing to global warming and climate change impacts

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Principles of public communication

Consider the audience’s degree of interest, education, and time constraints

Address any concerns that have been identified in language and formats suited to the intended audience– Word choice– Analogies

Consider having several types of materials available to match audiences needs– Posters, handouts, videos, etc.

At-scale stratigraphic column illustrates the depth of CO2 injection

Source: C6 Resources

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Drilling phase communications

Developed project-specific webpages describing project scope and objectives and featuring drilling progress reports and site photos

Paleogeologic profiles for each formation explained natural history of the area

Local newspaper ran several articles on the project; webpages featured on the blog of the Arizona State Geologist

Site tours were held for project partners and stakeholders

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WESTCARB’s Carbon Atlas – an online interactive tool for querying GIS data

Built upon standard ArcView GIS; layers include:

– Major industrial CO2 sources

– Sedimentary basins; oil and gas fields

– Major populations centers

– Land boundaries (e.g., federal, state, county, and municipal limits)

Features WESTCARB geologic and terrestrial sequestration findings

Atlas website: http://atlas.utah.gov/co2wc/viewer.htm?Title=ArcIMS%20

HTML%20Viewer

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WESTCARB research helps inform policymaking for CCS

CCS workshops for the 2005, 2007, and 2009 Integrated Energy Policy Reports

AB 1925 report to the California Legislature

AB 32 framework for GHG emissions reductions

Oregon – House Bill 3543, GHG emissions reductions (forest sequestration)

Washington – Senate Bill 6001, GHG emissions reductions

Nevada – Senate Bill 422, GHG emissions reporting

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Permitting: WESTCARB projects have helped establish working relationships with federal and state regulators

In California and Arizona, both federal and state regulators have jurisdiction over underground injection permits

WESTCARB partners have filed three “Class V” UIC permits with U.S. EPA Region 9 for CO2 injection, and one with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

WESTCARB experience has shown good communication between state agencies and EPA Region 9

Class V permit application filed by Clean Energy Systems for Kimberlina site in 2009

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WESTCARB provides support to the California Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel

Panel was convened by California agencies (CEC, CPUC, CARB) to draft recommendations on CCS to agencies and the Legislature

WESTCARB researchers are serving on the Technical Advisory Committee providing background papers, presentations, and writing support

Four or five public meetings of the Panel are being held – next meeting is October 21 in Sacramento, CA

Final report by the Panel is due at year- end 2010

Panel website: http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/carbon_capture_review_panel/meetings/index.html

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WESTCARB’s 2010 business meeting is October 18–20 in Sacramento, CA

Open to the public; registration required, but no charge

Updates on regional CO2 storage characterization studies in California and Alaska

Updates on state and national regulatory/policy developments

Discussion of a new study to evaluate CCS application on natural- gas-fired power plants

Results and insights from forestry-based terrestrial sequestration projects

Participant-driven discussion of CCS commercialization in the West

More details at www.westcarb.org