Concurrent with the pilot study to evaluate improved oil recovery using CO2, the ERC as part of the Kansas Geological Survey, along with State Survey’s from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, as well as the United States’ Geological Survey, has submitted a proposal to the Federal Energy Department (DOE) to develop the Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational DataBase (MIDCARB). The public abstract of this proposal follows.
The current federal energy policy is based on the assumption that hydrocarbons will continue to be the primary source of affordable energy for the U.S. and the world well into the 21st century. There is increasing interest in the relationship between increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its role in global climate change. For this reason, it is necessary to study ways to manage man-made CO2. Sequestering CO2 in geological reservoirs may be one way to safely manage carbon over long periods of time, though before this can happen, the proper tools need to be developed to analyze the geological integrity and potential as well as the costs associated with such a venture.
One such tool will be a digital database that allows users to determine the cost of compression and transport of CO2 between source and sequestration site, the quantity of CO2 that can be sequestered in relation to the source supply, the security and safety of the geologic sequestration site, and the long-term effects on the reservoir. The Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational DataBase (MIDCARB) is proposed to be such a tool. This unique product will bring together the strength of five state geological surveys (i.e., Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio), that are each proficient natural resource research organizations, and have demonstrated geographic information systems (GIS) capabilities, and local experience with the assessment, analysis and production technologies of oil, coal and natural gas resources. The goals of the MIDCARB are to organize and enhance the critical information sources relative to CO2 sequestration, and to develop the information technology tools needed to access, query, model, analyze, display and distribute natural resource data related to carbon management across five states, various organizations and numerous databases.
Large stationary sources of CO2 emissions, such as coal-fired power plants, fertilizer plants, and steel mills, will be identified, digitally located and characterized by temperature, pressure and gas mix (when possible). Potential CO2 sequestration targets include producing and depleted oil and gas fields, unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, uneconomic coal seams, and saline aquifers. These, too, will be characterized to determine quality, size and geologic integrity; economic impact and possible value of the CO2 recovery and sequestration (e.g., enhanced oil or coalbed methane recovery). MIDCARB also proposes to evaluate compression and transportation costs to move the CO2 from source to sink, assess the relation of potential capture technology to quantity and quality of CO2 sources (e.g., PVT conditions and presence of contaminants), and graphically show the location of geologic reservoirs in relation to CO2 sources.
The MIDCARB will be a public access media available to both public and private sectors. With its successful completion, technology transfer will include distributing software or other technology developed in the course of the project, so that other states will be able to build upon the success of the project.