CCS CARBON CAPTURE and SEQUESTRATION PREVENTING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM CONTRIBUTING TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CA CCS Coalition FOR MORE INFORMATION:

What is carbon sequestration? A proven method for the management and reduction of CO 2 in the atmosphere:  Carbon dioxide can be captured from a power plant or other industrial source, compressed and put in a pipeline where it travels to a nearby oil or gas field, or other “sequestration site.”  CO 2 can be safely stored in depleted oil and natural gas fields for an indefinite amount of time. Other geologic formations provide storage potential as well.  CO 2 can be held underground by the same solid rock layers that have held the trapped oil and gas for millions of years.  There is enough space in California’s oil fields alone to store all of the state’s CO 2 emissions for more than 1,000 years.  Carbon sequestration has been in practice around the world for over a decade.

How is CO 2 held permanently underground? Carbon dioxide can be stored in depleted oil and gas formations deep beneath the Earth…  Oil and gas deposits are NOT big, open caverns under the Earth’s surface.  Oil and gas exist in networks of trillions and trillions of tiny pores in the Earth’s subterranean rock layers.  Thus, during an earthquake, for example, a massive and instantaneous release of CO 2 from the rock formations would NOT occur. An oil deposit does NOT look like this.

Geology 101  The Earth’s surface is made up of many layers of sediments. Some are POROUS (sandstone) which allow oil, water and gas to pass through them, while some are SOLID (shale) and block their passage.  Oil and gas migrate up through these porous rock layers until they reach solid, non-porous rock layers which “trap” them in place.  These illustrations show how oil and gas are trapped in the Earth’s porous sediments by solid layers of shale, or “cap rock.”

What does a rock formation look like?  This “seal” or “cap rock” is solid and non-porous (the red dot represents the size of a pin head).  This “container” or “reservoir rock” is full of pores that once contained oil and gas. The cap rock above kept it from migrating to the surface.  The solid rock grain is represented in light blue. The open, porous spaces where the oil resided are represented in dark blue. These porous rock formations are like honeycombs or sponges that retain oil and gas. They will do the same for carbon dioxide.

CO 2 can be sequestered safely and indefinitely.  CO 2 will be held in the same sediments that held oil and gas underground for millions of years.  Since the CO 2 will be held in networks of trillions of pores and NOT in wide open caves or chasms, a sudden and complete release is NOT possible, even in the event of a major earthquake.  CO2 is colorless, odorless, and non-toxic. When injected into sealed formations, it poses no threat to the water table or the greater environment.  Any leaks that might occur would likely be at injection points and detected by state-of-the-art leak detection systems, which would then be repaired.

How CO 2 is transported  After capture and compression, CO 2 leaves the facility by pipeline.  In populated areas, the pipeline may be drilled horizontally under the surface to minimize disruptions to residents and businesses.

Pipelines are the safest method for transporting CO 2 …  Pipelines are present in almost every home or development in the United States - gas, propane, water, and sewage.  Since CO 2 is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-hazardous, it is inherently safer to transport than natural gas, propane, gasoline, oil, diesel fuel, or sewage.  If a leak or rupture were to occur, emergency shut-down valves installed at regular intervals along the line would isolate the leak, allowing it to be stopped and contained.  CO 2 pipelines will comply with the highest safety standards and will be built to withstand major seismic events and earthquakes.

Pipeline safety statistics:  According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Centers for Disease Control, in a typical year --  42,000 die in motor vehicle accidents  1,000 die in railroad-related accidents  600 die in aviation accidents  150 die in commercial shipping accidents  700,000 die of heart disease  550,000 die of cancer  160,000 die of stroke  150 die each year of incidents involving kitchen toasters  Only die in pipeline-related incidents, and these deaths are typically caused by illegal construction over pipelines.

CCS is viable, safe and proven  CCS has been safely used for over 40 years in the oil and gas industries as a way to enhance oil recovery.  Permanent storage sites have been used in Sleipner Norway; Weyburn, Canada and Salah, Algeria – all without incident or harm to people.

Promising CCS Projects  CCS projects are being proposed to address global climate change. One proposal in Kern County, CA., involves taking petroleum coke, a byproduct of the oil refining process, and coal, and breaking these down to their basic building blocks of CO 2 and hydrogen.  Plans include safely storing the CO 2 deep underground in geologic formations and using the “clean” hydrogen to fuel a combined cycle power plant.  Expected to be in operation by 2015, it will be capable of producing 400 gross megawatts (MW) of electricity and will eliminate over 2 million tons/year of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by storing them underground.

A clear and present solution to global warming.  CO 2 is only harmful to the climate when released into the air. It is harmless when stored underground.  In areas where the CO 2 infrastructure already exists, CO 2 can be transported and injected right away, without any major excavation or digging.  Carbon sequestration has been in successful practice around the world for over a decade. There are many locations in California with adequate infrastructure and technology available to sequester carbon.  The technology and infrastructure are here. Let’s put them to work now. CA CCS Coalition FOR MORE INFORMATION: