Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium —Validation Phase
Project # 42588

Primary Performing Organization:
Illinois State Geological Survey

The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) is one of the seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships created in 2003 by DOE as part of its program to advance greenhouse gas emission mitigation technology.  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.  The MGSC is led by the Illinois State Geological Survey and covers Illinois, southwest Indiana, and western Kentucky.  MGSC’s validation project is a four-year effort devoted to validating promising carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration opportunities within the Illinois Basin.  See Map.

MGSC will determine the ability, safety, and capacity of geological reservoirs to store CO₂ in unmineable coal seams, mature oil fields, and deep saline formations of the Illinois Basin. MGSC estimates 440 million metric tons of potential storage capacity in existing depleted oil and gas reservoirs, 3.3 billion metric tons of potential unmineable coal bed storage, and 115 billion metric tons of potential saline formation capacity.

MGSC will test the ability of these types of reservoirs to serve as sinks for some of the more than 276 million metric tons of annual CO₂ emissions from fixed sources in the Illinois Basin. Injection of CO₂ into depleted oil fields will help recover some of the approximately 10 billion barrels of oil remaining in Illinois Basin reservoirs; and injection into unmineable coal seams will help produce trapped methane to augment natural gas supplies.  These activities will validate CO₂ sequestration while also helping to meet the nation’s need for fossil fuels.

The objectives of the project are to:

• Assess and validate aspects of geological CO₂ storage in the Illinois Basin.
• Continue investigation into the methods and economics of CO₂ capture at facilities such as coal-fired power plants.
• Examine the costs of transporting large quantities of CO₂ via pipeline.
• Develop measurement, mitigation, and verification protocols to ensure safe and effective sequestration operations.

Contact:
Project Manager:  John Litynski, john.litynski@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• MGSC Validation Phase Fact Sheet (pdf)