Statement of Thomas D. Shope
Acting Assistant Secretary
Office of Fossil Energy
before the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee
U.S. Senate
April 16, 2007
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, it is a pleasure for me to appear before you today to discuss the Department of Energy's Sequestration Program and Senate Bills 731 and 962.
CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND FOSSIL FUELS
The availability of affordable energy is an important component of economic growth. The use of fossil fuels, however, can result in the release of emissions with potential impacts on the environment. Of growing significance are emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) which contribute to global climate change.
Balancing the economic value of fossil fuels with the environmental concerns associated with fossil fuel use is a difficult challenge. Carbon capture and storage technologies provide a key strategy for reconciling energy and environmental concerns. Geologic sequestration - the capture, transportation to an injection site, and long-term storage in a variety of suitable geologic formations - is one of the pathways that the Department of Energy (DOE) is pursuing to allow the continued use of fossil fuels while reducing CO2 emissions.
DOE is taking a leadership role in the development of carbon capture and storage technologies. Through its Carbon Sequestration Program - managed within DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and implemented by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) - DOE is developing both the technologies through which geologic carbon sequestration could potentially become an effective and economically viable option for reducing CO2 emissions. The Carbon Sequestration Program works in concert with other programs within the Office of Fossil Energy that are developing the complementary technologies that are integral to coal-fueled power generation with carbon capture: Advanced Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, Advanced Turbines, Fuels, Fuel Cells, and Advanced Research. Successful research and development could enable carbon control technologies to overcome the various technical and economic barriers in order to produce cost-effective CO2 capture and enable wide-spread deployment of these technologies.
DOE'S CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROGRAM
The Carbon Sequestration Program, with a Fiscal Year 2008 budget request of $86 million (including Sequestration R&D by federal employees under the Program Direction line), encompasses two main elements of technology development for geologic sequestration: Core R&D and Validation and Deployment. The Core R&D element converts technology needs in several focus areas into technology solutions that can then be validated and deployed in the field. Lessons learned from the field tests are fed back to the Core R&D element to guide future research and development. Through its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, Fuels, Sequestration, and Advanced Research programs, DOE is investigating a wide variety of separation techniques, including gas phase separation, absorption, and adsorption, as well as hybrid processes, such as adsorption/membrane systems. Current efforts cover not only improvements to state-of-the-art technologies but also the development of several revolutionary concepts, such as metal organic frameworks, ionic liquids, and enzyme based systems. The ultimate goal is to drive down the energy penalty associated with capture so that geologic sequestration can be done while keeping any increase in the cost of electricity to less than 10 percent.
REGIONAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION PARTNERSHIPS
One of the key questions regarding geologic sequestration is the ability to store CO2 in underground formations with long-term stability (permanence); this requires monitoring and verification of the fate of the CO2, to ensure that the science is sound and ultimately gains public acceptance. Answering this question is the responsibility of DOE's Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs), which are developing and validating the technology, and national infrastructure needed to implement geologic sequestration in different regions of the Nation.
Collectively, the seven RCSPs represent regions that account for 97 percent of coal-fired CO2 emissions, 97 percent of industrial CO2 emissions, 97 percent of the total land mass, and essentially all the geologic storage sites in the U.S. potentially available for carbon sequestration. The RCSPs are evaluating numerous geologic sequestration approaches in order to determine those best suited for specific regions of the country. They are also developing the framework to validate and deploy the most promising technologies for geologic sequestration.
A THREE-PHASE APPROACH
The RCSP Initiative takes a three-phased approach. The first, Characterization Phase, was initiated in 2003 and focused on characterizing regional opportunities for carbon capture and storage, identifying regional CO2 sources and storage formations. The Characterization Phase was completed in 2005 and led into the current Validation Phase, which focuses on field tests to validate the efficacy of geologic sequestration technologies in a variety of storage sites throughout the U.S. Using the extensive data and information gathered during the Characterization Phase, the seven RCSPs have identified the most promising opportunities for field tests to validate the efficacy of geologic sequestration technologies in a variety of storage sites throughout the U.S. Using the extensive data and information gathered during the Characterization Phase, the seven RCSPs identified the most promising opportunities for carbon storage in their Regions and commenced geologic field tests.. In addition, the RCSPs are verifying regional geologic sequestration capacities initiated in the first phase, satisfying project permitting requirements, and conducting public outreach and education activities.
The third phase, or Deployment Phase for large-volume testing, scheduled to begin in FY 2008, will demonstrate the feasibility of CO2 capture, transportation, injection, and storage at a scale equivalent to future commercial deployments. Given the opportunities provided by the FY 2007 Operations Plan, DOE will initiate these activities in 2007.
These large-volume deployment tests are expected to provide results that will be used in design of the FutureGen project, which will produce both hydrogen and electricity from a highly efficient and technologically sophisticated power plant while capturing and storing CO2 emissions. The geologic structures to be tested during these large-volume storage tests will serve as potential candidate sites for the future deployment of technologies demonstrated in the FutureGen Project as well as the Clean Coal Power Initiative, which will complete a solicitation for carbon capture technologies at commercial scale in 2008.
The Regional Partnerships, the National Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographical Information System (NATCARB), and NETL have created a methodology to determine the capacity for CO2 storage in the United States and Canada and an Atlas from data generated by the RCSPs and other databases including the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) National Coal Resources Data System, QW Database, EROS Database. Based on data displayed in the 2006 Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada, the aggregate CO2 sink capacity - including saline formations, unmineable coal seams, and oil and natural gas formations - is estimated to hold several hundred years of total domestic U.S. emissions.
SENATE BILLS 962 AND 731
Senate bills 962 and 731 highlight Congress's recognition of the importance of storage technologies. I would like to share with you some thoughts on these recent bills, specifically related to their relevance to the Sequestration Program.
On S. 731, the National Carbon Dioxide Storage Capacity Assessment Act of 2007, we agree that knowing the potential for storage and applying a good methodology to derive storage estimates is extremely important. DOE, through its Sequestration Program and Regional Partnerships and NATCARB, has been improving our knowledge base in this area since 2003, and released an initial U.S. Assessment this month. The assessment is based on methodology that has been vetted by geologic experts throughout the country. We welcome additional data from all sources, and as it becomes available, the Atlas will be improved and updated. We will work to avoid redundancy and duplication between the work conducted by the Regional Partnerships and other sources. We believe that collaboration with USGS strengthens our efforts. We note that the USGS has been involved with DOE's program over the last several years, including participation in a small scale CO2 injection into the FRIO formation in Texas. I will let my colleague from USGS provide more detailed comments on S. 731.
Regarding S. 962, the Carbon Capture and Storage Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 2007, DOE agrees with the majority of its provisions. We agree that there is a need to expedite and carry out large-scale testing of storage in a range of geologic formations in different parts of the country to provide information on the cost and feasibility of geologic sequestration technologies.
The Regional Partnerships are focusing on these exact issues and will conduct large volume tests during the Phase III, Deployment Phase. Efforts are underway to have some of the Regional Partnerships starting the Phase III efforts by the end of this fiscal year with the intent to inject CO2 as soon as possible, with potential for some injections to occur by the end of FY 2008. To comply with public and regulatory requirements of federal and state programs responsible for addressing possible safety and environmental risks, carbon storage projects will likely require specific permits. Both DOE and the Regional Partnerships provided comments for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) first Underground Injection Control program guidance related to permitting initial pilot projects as experimental technology wells, giving regulatory agencies enhanced flexibility in expediting these projects. We are also working closely with the EPA to assess requirements and procedures for permitting future commercial geologic sequestration deployments
Many of the objectives and activities called for in the Bill are consistent with those of the DOE Sequestration Program including cost-sharing requirements. The Regional Partnerships initiative are investigating small and large-scale tests in each of the seven regions of the partnerships. The Regional Partnerships also contain four Canadian provinces in their area and several Canadian government agencies, thus we anticipate there may be international collaboration in the tests to be conducted in Phase III.
There are a few items in the Bill that may need more clarification. For field validation testing activities, the Bill calls for the Secretary of Energy to promote deep geologic systems that may be used as engineered reservoirs to extract economical quantities of heat. This appears to be utilizing CO2 as a fluid medium for geothermal power. DOE's Office of Fossil Energy is unaware of the promise of this concept and would need further clarification. Also, the Bill allows the Secretary to "promulgate policies, procedures, requirements, and guidance to ensure that the objectives are met." The provision should be clarified to determine if this provides the Secretary with the authority for DOE to undertake liability for large-scale testing should this become an issue that delays or halts large-scale testing. The bill should clarify that any new policies, procedures, requirements, and guidance should support or be consistent with existing environmental and public health statutes, regulations, and policies.
The Administration is working to develop estimates for the Large-Volume Testing for Phase III of the Regional Partnerships, in addition to funding for the base program of R&D in capture. The majority of funding for the large-volume tests would be required in the earlier years for drilling and injection and for infrastructure construction, with lesser amounts later for monitoring and verification. We note that funding beyond the three years of appropriations authorized in the Bill would be required for both the Sequestration Program core activities and the Regional Partnerships.
MOVING TOWARD COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT
Carbon capture and storage can play an important role in mitigating carbon dioxide emissions under potential future stabilization scenarios. The United States has a large capacity of geologic formations amenable to CO2 storage. DOE's Carbon Sequestration Program will continue to move geologic sequestration technology toward readiness for commercial deployment.
Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, this completes my prepared statement. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have at this time.
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