Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership – Validation Phase
Project # 42590

Primary Performing Organization:
Southern States Energy Board

The Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) is one of the seven Regional Partnerships created by DOE in 2003, as part of its program to advance the 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 project is distinct in its geology, land use, and population base.  SECARB, led by the Southern States Energy Board, represents the 11 southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, plus counties in Kentucky and West Virginia.  SECARB’s validation project is a four-year effort devoted to conducting validation field tests of carbon sequestration technologies, and to evaluating options and potential opportunities for carbon sequestration in the region.  See Map.

Saline formations are the primary CO₂ geologic options for the SECARB region, because of the extensive saline formations that underlie many of the region’s power plants.  SECARB research has identified an estimated 1,440 billion metric tons of potential sequestration in saline formations in the region.  Saline formations with favorable sequestration potential underlie Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, East Texas, and Tennessee.

Other significant geologic storage opportunities in the SECARB region include an estimated 32.4 billion metric tons of potential storage capacity in depleted oil and gas fields and 82.1 billion metric tons of potential storage capacity in unmineable coal seams.

The objectives of the project are to:

• Supplement characterization of the region relative to CO₂ sources, sinks, transport, sequestration options, and infrastructure requirements.
• Continue to examine issues involved with technology deployment.
• Engage the public and elected officials at all levels in dialog on the issues associated with geologic sequestration of CO₂.
• Develop action plans for field test implementation and technology validation.
• Conduct four small-scale CO₂ injection field tests in the region’s deep geological formations to demonstrate the safety of geological storage.
• Develop monitoring, mitigation, and verification protocols that can be applied to commercial-scale operations.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Bruce Lani, bruce.lani@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• SECARB Validation Phase Fact Sheet (pdf)