West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership — Validation Phase
Project # 42593

Primary Performing Organization
California Energy Commission

The West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB) is one of the seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships created by DOE in 2003, as part of its program to advance mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.  After two years of fact finding across the United States, the Partnerships are now engaged in individual carbon sequestration validation projects.  Each Partnership is distinct in its geology, land use, and population base.  WESTCARB, led by the California Energy Commission, includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  See Map.  WESTCARB’s validation project is a four-year effort devoted to validating promising carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration opportunities within its region.

The data collected by the project are being integrated with comparable data from other Partnerships to provide a source/storage site database with spatially referenced data covering the entire nation.  In addition, the project is providing information to evaluate potential CO₂ storage capacity and value-added benefits from enhanced oil and natural gas recovery.  Ongoing investigations estimate up to 304 billion metric tons CO₂ storage capacity in the region for saline formations, and 5.3 billion metric tons for depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs.  The west coast region also has a wealth of forest and agricultural lands where improved management practices could sequester large quantities of carbon.

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of promising geologic and terrestrial carbon sequestration solutions, which include storage in depleting gas reservoirs, saline formations, and unmineable coal seams, as well as various land management techniques. The goals of Phase II include:

• Conduct pilot tests to validate carbon storage technologies in the region.
• Refine and enhance the broad regional evaluation of carbon sequestration potential.
• Identify opportunities for a large-scale CO₂ storage test in the region.
• Seek community input on issues surrounding pilot-scale and commercial-scale sequestration project development.

Technology discussions, regional meetings, and joint research will be used to maintain an open dialogue with regional stakeholders.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Dawn Deel, dawn.deel@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• WESTCARB Validation Phase Fact Sheet (pdf)