Center leads team in climate-change project
Power plants that use coal and natural gas produce energy and various byproducts — among them the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research (VCCER) at Virginia Tech is leading a team that is developing and testing technology to send carbon dioxide back to its roots — into coal beds.
The center represents Virginia in the multi-state Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), one of seven regional consortiums established by the U.S. Department of Energy to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent by 2012.
During the first phase of SECARB, beginning in 2003, the various research groups have identified carbon sequestration opportunities — ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent it from reaching the atmosphere — and characterized carbon sink sites to identify those with the best potential for storing carbon.
In 2005, SECARB Phase II began work to shift greenhouse gas storage technologies from the lab to the field. SECARB teams have been focusing on field validation at regional locations with the greatest promise of storing large quantities of CO2, proving the environmental efficacy of sequestration, satisfying project permitting requirements, and conducting public outreach and education activities.
The VCCER leads one of three field-test teams within SECARB and is investigating CO2 storage potential in coal seams in two separate locations. The VCCER directs a coal seam field test in both the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama and in the Central Appalachian Basin of Southwest Virginia. Focus is on seams that cannot be economically mined.
At some sites, CO2 would be stored where methane has been removed and could even enhance the recovery of methane. Appalachian coalbed methane reservoirs in Virginia and Alabama have produced enormous quantities of natural gas and are now approaching maturity, says VCCER director Michael Karmis, who holds the endowed Stonie Barker professorship in mining and minerals engineering at Virginia Tech. The research has significance both nationally and internationally.
“Sequestration of CO2 in these basins can significantly reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants, and, at the same time, the CO2-enhanced gas recovery promises to prolong the life of these reservoirs and expand the gas reserves,” says Karmis.
Nearly 6,000 coalbed methane holes were used for preliminary CO2 capacity assessment in central Appalachia. In September 2007, Karmis reported that the VCCER estimated enhanced coalbed methane potential production in Virginia of more than 650 billion cubic feet or $3.9 billion in increased revenue at $6 per million BTU.
Karmis says that nearly 400 million tons of CO2 can be stored in partially depleted coalbed methane fields in the Central Appalachian Basin, naming Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, and Wise counties in Southwest Virginia, as well as surrounding areas in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Advantages include the proximity of commercial operations, CO2 sources, a workforce, and the research team, and strong support from the community and businesses.
Although Phase II will continue until 2009, the VCCER has proposed the evaluation, design, and engineering of a large-volume commercial deployment for carbon sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane recovery in the Central Appalachian Basin starting in 2008. Required cost sharing from non-federal sources, such as state governments and industry, is 20 percent of the total project cost.
In late 2007, Dominion, the Richmond, Va.-based energy company, donated $500,000 to VCCER to support the development of carbon storage technologies. Dominion has also provided support for the first and second phases of the center’s activities as a member of SECARB.
“We firmly believe that sequestration technology needs to be demonstrated in central Appalachia in order to determine its feasibility for managing carbon emissions from the numerous power stations in this region,” said Eva Teig Hardy, executive vice president for external affairs and corporate communications at Dominion.
