Accelerating Ccus Deployment for Non-Coal Energy Sources and Offshore Storage

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) has been strongly linked to emissions reduction for coal-fired electricity generation, and noteworthy progress on this topic has been made over the last decade in the United States via the excellent DOE-NETL CCS Regional Partnership Program.

CCUS has additional, yet-untapped potential as a technology to catalyze the timely, material, and efficient transformation of other sectors of the Nation’s energy system and to advance clean energy technologies. Specific under-explored areas for advancing National interests in carbon management include:

1. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR),

2. Refining (upgrading) heavy oil imports,

3. Methanol generation from natural gas,

4. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export, and

5. Offshore CO₂ storage in the Gulf of Mexico.

These topics represent some of the largest financial energy infrastructure decisions ongoing in the United States, and are all currently geographically co-located in southeast Texas (Beaumont / Port Arthur region). In addition to being a nexus of energy production and an evolving carbon hub, the region hosts a number of notable locations with respect to CO₂ research: 1) the Frio Pilot CCS Site, 2) The Hastings CO₂-EOR / CCS Site, 3) CO₂ capture from steam-methane reformers (SMR), and 4) offshore research (seismic surveying and capacity assessment) in support of storage. Accelerated CCUS efforts in the region would simultaneously serve multiple National interests by demonstrating the sustainability of and minimizing the environmental impacts of a suite of energy sectors that will play a vital role in the future security, diversity, and prosperity of America’s energy supply chain.

The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) market is currently under-supplied with respect to CO₂. Any additional captured CO₂ is readily usable to increase domestic oil supply. This market is currently extremely active in the Gulf Coast, with transportation pipelines already in place and depleted field unitization underway. Additional focus on capture for utilization in existing and frontier regions (e.g. northeast Texas and western Louisiana, offshore,) will have strong economic impacts, driving future long-term expansion of EOR. One strategic advantage of CO₂ availability for local EOR is the ability to quickly replace the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with the four major storage sites on the Gulf Coast within 200 miles of east Texas refining centers.  Beyond EOR, sequestration of CO₂ can occur in the near offshore portions of the Gulf of Mexico, where recent and ongoing geologic studies identify storage capacity estimates of National long-term significance.