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Decarbonized Power, Energy for the Future: Clean Coal, CO₂ Sequestration, and the EOR Prize in the Gulf Coast and Permian Basin*

By

William A. Ambrose¹

Search and Discovery Article #80006 (2007)

Posted June 27, 2007

*Adapted from presentation at convention luncheon, AAPG Southwest Section 2007 Convention, Wichita Falls, Texas, April 21-24, 2007

¹Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas ([email protected])

Abstract 

Decarbonized power in the U.S., obtained from coal with capture and sequestration of CO₂, represents an enormous source of energy for the future. Numerous U.S. basins contain linked carbon sources and sinks, where use of clean-coal technology can provide near-zero-emission electric power generation, hydrogen production, and CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and enhanced coalbed methane recovery (ECBM). The U.S. coal resource base is approximately 6000 Quads (10¹⁵ British Thermal Units [Btu]), which greatly dwarfs its 300-Quad resources of oil and gas. Although upscaling the number of conventional coal-fired power plants can certainly meet increasing demands for energy, doing so will lead to increased air pollution, as well as more CO₂ in the atmosphere. “Clean coal” technology offers a viable alternative. Power producers are beginning to implement a technology called integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), potentially a more efficient and less-polluting alternative to traditional pulverized coal plants. IGCC plants gasify coal to produce hydrogen that is burned in a combustion turbine. FutureGen is a new industry-government partnership to enable development and integration of new “clean coal” technologies. It is a $1-billion partnership between the US Department of Energy (DOE), private industry, and foreign countries to design, build, and operate a 275-megawatt, coal-fueled IGCC power plant with capture of 90% of CO₂ and near-zero emissions of SOx and NOx. Areas suitable for FutureGen facilities must satisfy several technical criteria: (1) at least a 200-acre site with capacity for delivery of coal, (2) capacity for injectivity and long-term storage of significant volumes (approximately 50 million tons) of CO₂ in brine-bearing formations with possible secondary injection into coal, and (3) appropriate infrastructure, including nearby rail facilities and pipelines. FutureGen will only be successful if it spawns the construction of a large number of FutureGen-like plants across the country that become sources for CO₂ EOR and ECBM, as well as sequestration in deep brine reservoirs.