(432c) Progress and Challenges in Developing CCS Clusters in the Midwest and Northeast Quadrant of United States

The midwestern and northeastern quadrant of the United States, spanning about 20 states, is experiencing a major spurt of growth in the development and deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The region, subject to CCS research and pilot-scale demonstrations since mid-1990s is fast transitioning into multiple CCS project clusters. Several factors make this diverse region a microcosm for large-scale development of CCS and a precursor to how CCS will evolve globally over next several decades, beyond the initial “low-hanging fruit”. This presentation will summarize the past and ongoing efforts in the region, with a focus on opportunities fostering the ongoing commercial scale deployment and pertinent challenges, which could derail the momentum. Specific topics include:

1. Research and pilot projects implemented since 1990s and their impact on CCS development.
2. Current commercial interest in the area and the key drivers.
3. Cross-cutting opportunities, including blue hydrogen, direct air capture with CCS (DACCS), geothermal, bioenergy with CCS, and oilfield brine disposal, leading the need for integrated subsurface resources management.
4. Regional regulatory, business, and community benefit factors that will enable or hinder the foreseen deployment.

The region has long been the industrial heartland of the country accounting for over 900 million tonnes of CO₂ annually in recent years. Many of these sources, which include industry, manufacturing, and electric power plants, are hard to decarbonize and need additional solutions in a carbon-constrained future. The region features several storage prospects, including onshore saline in three major basins, depleted oil and gas fields, unconventional shale resources, basalt rift basins, and offshore saline reservoirs. The progress in this region is spurred in large part from the US federal investments under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which expanded the 45Q tax credits, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which includes more than $20 billion to support CCS deployment.

Foundation for CCS in the Region – CCS research in the region started as early as mid-1990s, with initial techno-economic analyses aimed at CO­₂ storage in the Mt. Simon Sandstone. Beginning in the early 2000s, there was a major growth based on the US Department of Energy (DOE) funded MIDCARB project, Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) and Midwest Geological Storage Consortium (MGSC). These Partnerships conducted mapping of CO₂ resources, assessed stakeholder outreach strategies, and evaluated infrastructure scenarios. Most importantly, they conducted several small and large-scale pilots in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian Basins, in diverse geologic settings ranging up to a million tonnes (at ADB ethanol plant in Illinois). The region also saw successful pilot testing of CO₂ capture and storage at the AEP Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia and completion of several Class V injection well permits and Class VI permits for ADM (with industrial-scale injection) and FutureGen Sites. Starting in 2020, the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI), formed with the combination of MRCSP and MGSC, has been fostering CCS deployment in the region. The MRCI aims to advance and derisk CCS by addressing key technical challenges, facilitating regional infrastructure planning, performing regional technology transfer, and engaging stakeholders.

All these research and field programs, conducted with safe outcomes, boosted stakeholder confidence and industrial acceptance of technical viability of CO₂ storage for emission reduction, even if the business cases were not yet conducive to deployment. The rich technical foundation also identified uncertainties and disparate distribution of storage resources beyond the established Mt. Simon Sandstone corridor, resulting in the need for characterization of deeper mature sedimentary basins, dominated by dense carbonates and shales. The Mt. Simon Sandstone in the Illinois Basin is a world class reservoir with proven capacity; however, additional reservoirs like the onshore Cambro-Ordovician carbonates and saline reservoirs of the Mid-Atlantic offshore need more characterization to evolve beyond prospective storage resources. In a similar vein, integrated subsurface management is required to effectively utilize the pore space in these reservoirs while planning and mitigating potential project interference issues.

Emerging Commercial Deployment – Numerous ethanol plants with high purity CO₂ are the first movers for CCS deployment in the region with or without the DOE funding due to investor interest driven by 45Q tax credits. Most initial projects have focused on sub-million tonne scale storage at/near the source or in the centralized hubs supplied by pipeline networks. However, plans for regional pipelines have run into significant challenges due to insufficient regulation and local public opposition, resulting in cancellation of at least one major regional gathering and injection project. Despite the challenges, the region is home to about 10 projects across seven states under the DOE funded Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative that began in 2016 with the goal of addressing the key gaps on the critical path towards CCS deployment. With more than $300M in combined budget for feasibility studies and detailed characterization leading up permitting of the facilities and financial decisions, these projects represent CO₂ sourced from ethanol, industrial (steel, cement, refining, hydrogen), and power generation sources. Finally, the region has been selected for multiple DACCS projects and three major clean hydrogen hubs, including ARCH2 in Appalachian Basin and MachH2 in Illinois Basin, announced in 2023 that will lead to more than 40 million tonnes in captured CO₂, with commensurate need for CO₂ transport and storage network within the next ten years. Two of the hubs named the ARCH2 in the Appalachian Basin and MachH2 in Illinois Basin include blue hydrogen production combined CCS. These full value chain projects will create tens of thousands in new jobs, facilitate energy transition and offer significant community benefits, which will also help gain stakeholder acceptance.

Regulatory Progress underpinning Deployment –As of January 2024, there are 27 Class VI injection well permits under review across 11 sites in the region, with only one recent permit in Indiana approved for construction so far. This number is likely to grow substantially in the coming year, based on foreseen activity. In addition to permitting delays, progress has been hampered by lack of clear regulations for interstate pipelines, local county level requirements, and emerging framework for long-term liability, pore space ownership, eminent domain, and need to address local community benefits. States that are proactively developing a clear business and community framework to address these challenges are seeing enhanced project development activity, making them early movers in regional decarbonization. Overall, the opportunities, challenges, and growth path seen in the northeast/Midwest region of the US is seen as a key case study on the CCS deployment that will evolve in many parts of the world.

Keywords: Regional CCS deployment; geologic storage clusters and hubs; regulatory development; CCS challenges; Midwest USA; CCS Infrastructure, MRCI