AUSTIN, Texas — The stage is set for a new carbon storage economy to emerge along the Gulf Coast, according to a study led by The University of Texas at Austin, with the region offering ample opportunities to capture and store carbon, and recent state and federal incentives giving an added push to get started.
Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a technology that keeps CO2 out of the atmosphere by capturing emissions and storing them deep underground. It can help fight climate change by lowering industrial emissions now while renewable energy sources are being developed, said Tip Meckel, a senior research scientist at the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, a research group at the UT Bureau of Economic Geology that has been studying CCS for the past 20 years.
“This is a viable way to reduce emissions in the near term,” Meckel said. “It’s feasible and has a reasonable economic structure that can support, retain and create jobs.”
The study, which was published in Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, provides a high-level overview of policy incentives for CCS and how Texas and Louisiana’s high concentration of industry and unique offshore geology make the region a particularly good spot to build up a carbon storage economy.
The topics explored in the paper are especially relevant considering recent moves that Texas has made to bring carbon storage under a similar regulatory framework as oil and gas. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law HB 1284, granting the Texas Railroad Commission the same regulatory authority over CO2 injection wells as it has over oil and gas wells. In May, the Texas General Land Office announced that it was accepting lease proposals for CO2 storage sites in state land offshore of Jefferson County. Any royalties or revenues related to storage will benefit the Texas Permanent School Fund, as oil and gas activity does.
In the past, oil and gas companies primarily used carbon storage and capture for enhanced oil recovery, which allows companies to get more oil out of depleted reservoirs by pumping in CO2. Enhanced oil recovery has been in use for decades and has produced an existing network of pipelines for transporting CO2 along the Gulf Coast. In addition, the two existing carbon capture facilities in Texas were built with these measures in mind.
However, the study shows that falling oil and gas prices and an increasing 45Q federal tax credit, which offsets tax liability for industries to different degrees depending on how the CO2 is stored, is making carbon storage for its own sake more attractive.
“Before, we only had one way: enhanced oil recovery” said former Assistant Secretary of Energy Charles McConnell, who is now the executive director of carbon management at the University of Houston and was not part of the study. “We are in a different place now. Storage in and of itself can be viable now.”
The paper describes how the existing CO2 infrastructure could be leveraged and expanded to boost carbon storage outside of enhanced oil recovery — with the researchers highlighting the subsurface geology offshore of the Gulf Coast as a suitable spot for permanently storing CO2.
The researchers also note that in Texas, state-owned lands extend to 10.35 miles offshore instead of the usual 3.45 miles due to a law that went into effect when Texas was a sovereign nation. The historical act ends up simplifying issues of ownership and permitting today.
While geology and infrastructure of the Gulf Coast is a winning combination for boosting a carbon storage economy, the study said that another important fact is simply the amount of CO2 produced in the region. Texas has the highest level of emissions of any state. Louisiana is second.
Capture and storage offers a way to stop a portion of those emissions right at the source, Meckel said. By doing that, the technology can help flatten CO2 emissions as lower-carbon energy alternatives mature in the market.
“Advancing carbon capture and storage is something that we can do now,” Meckel said. “To take a big bite out of [the carbon] profile, you have to get going now.”
The Department of Energy funded the research. The paper’s co-authors are all part of the Gulf Coast Carbon Center. They are research scientist associate Alex Bump, principal investigator Susan Hovorka, and program manager Ramón H. Treviño.
The Bureau of Economic Geology is a research unit of the UT Jackson School of Geosciences.
AUSTIN, Texas - Utafiti uliofanywa na Chuo Kikuu cha Texas huko Austin, unaonyesha kuwa uchumi mpya wa kuhifadhi kaboni umewekwa kwa ajili ya kuibuka kwenye pwani ya Ghuba ya Amerika, na eneo hilo linatoa fursa nyingi za kukamata na kuhifadhi kaboni, na motisha za hivi karibuni za serikali na shirikisho zinaongeza msukumo wa kuanza. CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) ni teknolojia ya kuhifadhi CO2 kutoka angahewa kwa kuhifadhi chini ya ardhi. "Kama vile tunavyojua, hii ni hatua ya kwanza katika kuimarisha utunzaji wa mazingira na mazingira ya mazingira, ""alisema Tip Mekel, mwanasayansi mwandamizi wa utafiti katika Kituo cha Carbon cha Gulf Coast, kikundi cha utafiti katika Ofisi ya Uchumi ya Jiolojia ya UT, ambayo imekuwa ikisoma CCS kwa miaka 20 iliyopita." "Hii ni njia inayofaa ya kupunguza uzalishaji katika muda mfupi", Meckel alisema. "Utafiti huo, ambao umechapishwa katika ""Gas za chafu: Sayansi na Teknolojia,"" hutoa muhtasari wa kiwango cha juu cha motisha ya sera kwa CCS na jinsi Texas na Louisiana ""umakini mkubwa wa viwanda na jiolojia ya kipekee ya pwani hufanya mkoa huo kuwa mahali pazuri sana kujenga uchumi wa kuhifadhi kaboni." "Mitu iliyochunguzwa katika karatasi hiyo ni muhimu hasa kwa kuzingatia hatua za hivi karibuni ambazo Texas imefanya kuleta kuhifadhi kaboni chini ya mfumo wa udhibiti sawa na mafuta na gesi. """ Mnamo Juni, Gavana. "Greg Abbott, mwanasheria wa Texas, alitia saini sheria ya HB 1284 ambayo inatoa Tume ya Reli ya Texas mamlaka sawa ya udhibiti juu ya visima vya CO2 ""kama ilivyo kwa visima vya mafuta na gesi.""" Ofisi ya Ardhi ya Jimbo la Texas ilitangaza kuwa inakubali mapendekezo ya kukodisha maeneo ya kuhifadhi CO2 katika ardhi ya serikali ya pwani ya Kaunti ya Jefferson. Malipo yoyote ya utoaji au mapato yanayohusiana na kuhifadhi yatasaidia Mfuko wa Shule ya Kudumu ya Texas, kama vile shughuli za mafuta na gesi. Katika miaka ya hivi karibuni, kampuni za mafuta na gesi zimetumia kuhifadhi kaboni na kuifunga kwa ajili ya kuongeza mafuta ya mafuta, ambayo inaruhusu makampuni kupata mafuta zaidi kutoka kwa hifadhi za mafuta kwa pampu ya CO2. Utoaji wa mafuta ulioboreshwa umekuwa ukitumiwa kwa miongo kadhaa na umezalisha mtandao wa mabomba ya sasa ya kusafirisha CO2 kando ya Pwani ya Ghuba. Kwa kuongezea, vifaa viwili vya sasa vya kukamata kaboni huko Texas vilijengwa kwa kuzingatia hatua hizi. Hata hivyo, utafiti unaonyesha kuwa kushuka kwa bei ya mafuta na gesi na kuongezeka kwa mkopo wa kodi ya 45Q, ambayo hupunguza wajibu wa kodi kwa viwanda kwa viwango tofauti kulingana na jinsi CO2 inavyohifadhiwa, inafanya kuhifadhi kaboni kwa ajili yake yenye kuvutia zaidi. "Kabla ya hapo, tulikuwa na njia moja tu: kuongeza uokoaji wa mafuta, ""alisema msaidizi wa zamani wa Waziri wa Nishati Charles McConnell, ambaye sasa ni mkurugenzi mtendaji wa usimamizi wa kaboni katika Chuo Kikuu cha Houston na hakuwa sehemu ya utafiti huo." <unk>Sasa tuko mahali pengine. Uhifadhi wa CO2 unaweza kuwa na ufanisi sasa, na karatasi hiyo inaelezea jinsi miundombinu ya sasa ya CO2 inaweza kuimarishwa na kupanuliwa ili kuongeza uhifadhi wa kaboni nje ya uokoaji wa mafuta, na watafiti wakionyesha jiolojia ya chini ya ardhi ya pwani ya Ghuba ya Gulf kama mahali pazuri pa kuhifadhi CO2 kwa kudumu. Watafiti pia wanasema kwamba katika Texas, ardhi inayomilikiwa na serikali inaenea hadi maili 10.35 baharini badala ya maili 3.45 za kawaida kwa sababu ya sheria ambayo ilianza kutumika wakati Texas ilikuwa taifa huru. Hatua ya kihistoria inaishia kurahisisha masuala ya umiliki na kuruhusu leo. "Wakati jiolojia na miundombinu ya pwani ya Ghuba ni mchanganyiko wa kushinda kwa kuongeza uchumi wa kuhifadhi kaboni, utafiti huo ulisema ukweli mwingine muhimu ni kiasi cha CO2 inayozalishwa katika mkoa huo. """ Texas ina kiwango cha juu zaidi cha uzalishaji wa gesi ya moshi kuliko jimbo jingine lolote. Louisiana ni ya pili. "Kufunga na kuhifadhi hutoa njia ya kuzuia sehemu ya uzalishaji huo kwenye chanzo,"" alisema Meckel." Kwa kufanya hivyo, teknolojia inaweza kusaidia kupunguza uzalishaji wa CO2 wakati mbadala wa nishati ya chini ya kaboni inakuza sokoni. "Kufanya maendeleo ya kukamata na kuhifadhi kaboni ni kitu ambacho tunaweza kufanya sasa", Meckel alisema. "Ili kuchukua bite kubwa nje ya [kaboni] profile, lazima kupata kwenda sasa. " Idara ya Nishati kufadhiliwa utafiti. Waandishi wa karatasi hiyo wote ni sehemu ya Kituo cha Kaboni cha Pwani ya Ghuba. Wao ni msaidizi wa mwanasayansi wa utafiti Alex Bump, mtafiti mkuu Susan Hovorka, na meneja wa programu Ramón H. Treviño. Ofisi ya Uchumi Geolojia ni kitengo cha utafiti wa UT Jackson Shule ya Geosciences.