From Montana State University, news of a big drilling project, except this one produces nothing.
MSU moves forward with U.S. Department of Energy backed carbon dioxide storage project in northern Montana
Montana State University finalized negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy – National Energy Technology Laboratory on Tuesday to begin work on a $67 million, eight-year project that will involve permitting, injecting and monitoring one million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into deep porous rock formations in northern Montana. MSU received the preliminary award in 2009 and has been finalizing details on site selection, logistics, and project partners for the project to proceed.
The overall goal of the project is to demonstrate that CO2 can be stored safely and viably in regional geologic formations. It will be carried out by the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership at MSU.
Carbon storage, also known as carbon sequestration, is the capture and storage of CO2 gas that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon storage is seen as one possible strategy to help stabilize global CO2 emissions and reduce the impacts of climate change.
“This grant award demonstrates, once again, MSU’s national competitiveness in the search for energy solutions and our excellence in research and teaching,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado.
Under the umbrella of the MSU Energy Research Institute, the university conducts about $15 million in energy research annually. That research is part of the university’s $109 million research enterprise, for which it is recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the top 108 research universities in the country.
The Montana congressional delegation of Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg recognize the importance of carbon storage to the nation’s energy systems and have strongly supported federal programs and MSU research in this area.
The success of MSU’s energy research also owes credit to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Cruzado said. “The governor’s office and the Montana congressional delegation have been very supportive of energy research at MSU and across the state.”
The project site will be located at Kevin Dome (pronounced kee-vin), a geologic feature that extends 700 square miles underground and has trapped naturally occurring carbon dioxide (CO2) for millions of years. There are barrier rock layers above the CO2 that prevent gas or other liquids from migrating to the surface.
The CO2 does not take up all of the space and therefore the dome has potential to store additional CO2. The partnership will inject CO2 into a rock layer that has not previously had CO2. This will allow the scientists to study rocks that have been previously exposed to CO2 and rocks that have not had previous CO2 exposure.
“Since we are getting the CO2 from a naturally occurring source, we can learn from nature how the CO2 has been stored safely in rock formations for millions of years,” said Lee Spangler, partnership director. “This grant will enable us to learn about the transportation, injection and monitoring of CO2 in an engineered system.”
The site is located in northern Toole County near the communities of Shelby, Kevin and Sunburst, Mont. Sunburst Mayor Gary Iverson commented “We see this project as having a very positive impact in our region. It brings international recognition and positive economic benefits for the eight years of the project as well as possible future opportunities.”
Local Montana companies will be hired for the project permitting, site development, well drilling and operations work. Altamont Oil and Gas of Cutbank will be responsible for site development and operations and Bison Engineering of Billings and Helena will work with state agencies on project permitting. Project funds will also be spent on local services and fuel.
Partnership scientists and engineers will share new technology and research in sustainable energy with students and teachers. Throughout the project, the partnership plans to create learning opportunities and experiences for local Toole County students and MSU students.
At Montana State, almost three dozen faculty, staff and students will be part of the project. Staff and students at MSU will be involved with project and data management, permitting, public outreach and education, geologic studies, and monitoring.
“Having continuous open communication with stakeholders is very important for the partnership,” said Lindsey Tollefson, project manager for the partnership.
Public meetings will be held throughout all stages of the project’s life cycle, staff will be available to meet with individuals, and local input will be considered in decision making, she said.
Additionally, project information will be available at www.bigskyco2.org as well as through regular newsletters.
The eight year project will begin with environmental studies for permitting and collecting background data prior to building necessary infrastructure.
During the operational phase, the partnership will inject one million tons of CO2 into the dome almost a mile underneath the earth’s surface. Monitoring of the environment will be conducted throughout the life of the project until site closure.
Project operations will be designed in consultation with local farmers, ranchers and community members to ensure that work takes place during appropriate seasons and with local activities in mind. The public will be notified in advance of any project related activities taking place on the ground.
In addition to the $67 million of federal funding, private partners are contributing another $18 million in required matching funds for the project. Led by MSU, the Kevin Dome storage project will be a team effort that draws upon expertise from both the public and private sector. The team includes four other universities, three national laboratories and five private sector companies and has experience with carbon storage projects in Washington, Wyoming, Canada, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and internationally.
Three companies, Vecta Oil and Gas, SR2020 Inc. and Schlumberger are providing the bulk of the matching funds for the project. Vecta and SR2020 are involved in the seismic survey which will be one of the first steps of the project to ensure the geology is suitable and help determine the best locations for the wells. Schlumberger will core and log wells to provide more detailed geologic data about the subsurface.
Safety is a priority for the team. The project will exceed standard commercial practices to minimize all health, safety and environmental risks. The CO2, geology, water, soil, air, and infrastructure will be extensively monitored by systems placed both above and below ground at the site.
All project activities will adhere to state and federal regulatory guidelines and obtain any required permits. This project will also have U.S. DOE oversight.
This project is the third phase of the Big Sky Partnership. The first phase of the program identified and characterized the carbon sources and sinks in the region and the second phase has focused on determining the best approaches for storing CO2 in both geologic and terrestrial systems. Small scale terrestrial and geologic field tests are currently under way by the partnership.
Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership (BSCSP)
Led by Montana State University, the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership (BSCSP) is one of seven partnerships involved in the US Department of Energy’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership program. The BSCSP relies on existing technologies from the fields of engineering, geology, chemistry, biology, geographic information systems and economics to develop novel approaches for both geologic and terrestrial carbon storage in our region. The BSCSP region encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota, eastern Washington and Oregon. Its membership includes universities, national laboratories, private companies, state agencies and Native American tribes. More information can be found at www.bigskyco2.org.
Just to add some clarity, the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership is one of seven that cover all of the US, except for the Northeast (which does not want coal power under any circumstances). They are research projects only, no one thinks they will have any immediate impact on the level of CO2 at this stage. They were started by NETL, the energy research arm of DOE back when it looked like Waxman-Markey (or some similar GHG regulation) would become law. Now they are just trolling along on autopilot, hoping that America will someday wake up and legislate a need for this technology. And as far as the +$67 million goes, it is a drop in the bucket when compared to the real costs of implementing CCS. If nothing else, it helps to show the limitations of what CCS can do. Politicians seem to think they can wave a magic law and decree that the technology they want will immediately appear at low cost. They do not seem to realize this is not a trace emission, a not so big 600 MW coal boiler can emit almost 15,000 tons of CO2 in just one day. My former boss used to say CCS will actually never be used because it was just too crazy.
Question: How many millions of pounds of CO2 is put into the atmosphere by designing, manufacturing, erecting, operating, maintaining and decommissioning a CSS project, the purpose of which is to put CO2 into the ground?
What is the CO2stored/CO2produced ratio? If it is < 1, it is unsustainable.
Why not pump it into Sheep Mountain or Bravo Dome where CO2 occurs naturally and has been produced for enhanced oil recovery for many years? This seems like a waste of money to duplicate what already has been prove viable.
I ♥ my carbon footprint.
Easy.
Alt-3.
At Hanford in southeastern Washington State, over $50 billion will be spent on digging up nuclear waste buried in a relatively dry arid region for fear of ground water eventually carrying it to the Columbia River, and move it to …where…? The Yucca Mountain nuclear repository project is being shut down. Maybe they could ship the nuclear waste from Hanford to this big hole in Montana. Yeah, the “Big Sky Country” becomes the “Big Hole Country!”
I can only applaud the people of the State of Montana for their courage. Keep up the good work!
To all those people who say otherwise, would you rather see that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Havng it in the ground is much better.
Of course, the best thing of all would be to eliminate the burning of fossil fuels altogether.
Michael Klein says:
“To all those people who say otherwise, would you rather see that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?”
Yes. More is better, alarmist propaganda to the contrary.
Michael Klein;
Of course, the best thing of all would be to eliminate the burning of fossil fuels altogether.>>>
Let’s see if that holds up to a little bit of thought.
What was man’s first big technological leap that separated us in no uncertain terms from the animals? Changed us from a species on the edge of survival to a species able to guide our own destiny?
Answer: Fire.
The second big leap?
The wheel.
After that, you could get quite the debate as to what the third one would be. Electricity? Internal combustion engine? Plastic? Steel? Airplanes?
Do you know what you need to make all those things?
Answer: Fire.
Ya gotta burn something or go back to living in caves and fending off bears with a stick. Not only is the climate catastrophe from CO2 fear mongering, the solution proposed by you above would sentence 99% of the world’s population to death. What you got against people anyway?
Not exactly on topic….but if we’re discussing the total lunacy regarding wasted tax dollars and the effect on the economy, then check out this article from CNN Money on the down grade of the United States’ credit rating to AA+ from AAA. The countries left in the world with a AAA rating are shown in blue.
Looks like Alaska has secretly left the union and become a Canadian province.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/06/news/international/sp_rating_countries_with_aaa/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2
But like all of this nonsense, once they get their foot in the door they’ll find ways to justify expanding the amount every year. I’d surmise that the initial budget allocations for studying CAGW in general also started out as ‘small’ ~25 years ago (?) but like every other government program it will grow like bacteria in a petri dish if it offers its enablers a political advantage at the ballot box. CAGW sure did and the infection is now spreading out of control.
I grew up in N Montana, got a degree in Geology from MSU, and my sister and family live in Shelby. I am so embarrassed that this project is ocurring!
Why would you put CO2 into a big hole at great cost when you could inject it into a gillion oil pools and get an enhanced recovery? Charge up reservoirs for a year or two, move onto the next. Wait for the CO2 to settle in and produce the oil, while recycling the CO2.
Jeez. Is there something about making money from “disposing” of CO2, a moral issue that involves profit from “pollution”?
Right: we’re supposed to be not using fossil fuels anymore, except for the energy we need to gather, transport and bury that nasty molecule with horrible carbon in it.
Michael Klein says:
August 6, 2011 at 8:09 pm
“I can only applaud the people of the State of Montana for their courage.”
I wouldn’t call it ‘courage’ exactly. If you re-read the article, I think they were given 67 million reasons to give it a go. Courage had nothing to do with it.
“Safety is a priority for the team. The project will exceed standard commercial practices to minimize all health, safety and environmental risks. The CO2, geology, water, soil, air, and infrastructure will be extensively monitored by systems placed both above and below ground at the site.”
Well, considering they are drilling for nothing, will not experience overpressured zones, and are doing nothing in general, well, I guess their safety program will be a great success. But as near as I can tell, nothing else in the project will be a success.
God, my alma mater is embarrassing sometimes. This is a crack pot scheme that will not create any jobs, opportunities or growth for anyone other than the few that are in on the “ground” floor done under the guise of science. But hey, they have tenure!
As stupid as stupid gets. All those involved in this needs to have a tube connected to their faces and let then exhale down the hole. They are obviously breathing out really really bad CO2.
I can understand all of the negative comment, but this would be extraordinary as a statistical project! If you can actually sequester enough CO2 (long shot, but let’s pretend for now) you can run models over time that actually demonstrate if CO2 effects temperature or not. I do love a good panel design!
I could see many problems with this. What if the CO2 acts as a lubricant allowing shear layers to slip and causing earthquakes. I know there aren’t MANY people in Montana, but flattened houses are still dangerous. /only partly sarc