ENERGY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
CONTACT
Robert C. Burruss
Lead Geologist
703.648.6144
Leslie Ruppert
Project Manager
703.648.6431
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Geologic CO2 Sequestration Research at the USGS
Overview
Assessment of Geologic Reservoirs for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
USGS Activities:
Based on current projections, the United States faces the need to increase its electrical power generating capacity by 40% over the next 20 years and its total energy consumption by 24% by the year 2030. Fossil fuel usage, a major source of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, will continue to provide the dominant portion of total energy in both industrialized and developing countries. Overall reduction of carbon dioxide emissions will likely involve some combination of techniques, but for the immediate future, sequestration of carbon dioxide in geological reservoirs seems especially promising, as existing knowledge derived from the oil and gas production industries has already helped to solve some of the technological obstacles. The USGS has been studying geologic options for storing CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, deep coal seams, and brine formations.
USGS research has focused on these themes:
- Characterization of geological and geochemical factors controlling the capacity to store CO2 in geologic formations
- Identification of potential reservoirs for geologic CO2 sequestration
- Characterization of the geological processes that operate in natural and man-made analogs of CO2 storage reservoirs, including high-CO2 content natural gas accumulations, oil reservoirs undergoing long-term enhanced oil recovery with carbon dioxide, and natural gas storage reservoirs
USGS research has produced:
- A geographic information system (GIS) map comparing the location of major CO2 sources with the size, location, and type of potential storage reservoirs Maps
- New measurements of the solubility of CO2 in brines (Rosenbauer and others, 2005)
- New methods of assessing the CO2 sequestration capacity of geologic formations (Brennan and Burruss, 2003; 2006)
Potential USGS Products:
- New tools/approaches that can be used to study CO2 sequestration in sedimentary basins
- Storage capacity assessments for major U.S. sedimentary basins
The methodology for quantitative assessment of total geological reservoir capacity may prove applicable worldwide, allowing international assessment of carbon sequestration capacity.
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GEOLOGIC CO2
SEQUEST. SPOTLIGHT
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Statement by Dr. Robert C. Burruss, Research Geologist, USGS Energy Resources Team, before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials Hearing on "Carbon Sequestration: Risks, Opportunities and Protection of Drinking Water", July 24, 2008.
Statement by Dr. Robert C. Burruss, Research Geologist, USGS Energy Resources Team, before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation Hearing on Carbon Sequestration Technologies, November 7, 2007.
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Carbon Sequestration to Mitigate Climate Change, 2008:
USGS Fact Sheet 2008-3097
Experimental measurements of vapor-liquid equilibria of the H2O-CO2-CH4 ternary system, 2008: Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data: Outside Publication - Request copy, email author
CO2 storage capacity estimation: Issues and development of standards, 2007: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control: Outside Publication - Request copy, email author
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