Shell to pump CO2 underground?

The West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB) held an informational open house at D.H. White Elementary in Rio Vista on Thursday. WESTCARB and Shell put together six information tables to help explain their plan for capturing carbon dioxide and storing more than two miles below ground surface in the Montezuma Hills.

The CO2 would be trucked into the Montezuma Hills, ten miles outside of Rio Vista. Adam Gottlieb, the Manager of Media Communication for the California Energy Commission, said that they plan on trucking in 6,000 tons of CO2. “It’s a very minute amount,” said Gottlieb.

To put it in perspective, the Weyburn-Midale CO2 Project in Canada will be home to 20 million tons of stored CO2. “It’s being done all over,” said Gottlieb. “There are sites in Canada, Norway and Algeria.”

According to Gottlieb, C6 Resources, an affiliate of Shell Oil Company, will be responsible for the construction, operation, and other on-site aspects of carbon dioxide storage.

“Shell was recently awarded approximately $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 to investigate the feasibility of a large-scale project,” Gottlieb wrote.

The technology has been around for thirty years. The CO2 is piped down into the layers of sandstone and shale. The Montezuma Hills site was chosen after much deliberation.

“This site is perfectly ideal for testing carbon storage. The geologic strata are perfect. This meeting was a chance for us to explain the technology,” said Gottlieb.

There are still a number of logistics to be worked out, before the carbon dioxide can be stored. They have already been working with landowner Rick Russell for the site. “Rick is an eco-pioneer,” said Gottlieb.  Russell has also allotted portions of his land for wind turbines.

After WESTCARB secures a permit with the county for the project, the next step will be to hold more public hearings. “There are a lot of steps,” said Gottlieb. “Consider this the introduction.”

“Should the project confirm that CO2 underground storage in this area is viable, a second project to store larger volumes of CO2may be implemented based on a number of factors, including the economic feasibility of a project to capture, transport, and store up to one million tons of CO2,” according to Gottlieb.

In the initial project, WESTCARB and Shell will be trucking in CO2 from soda manufacturers, though they don’t have final arrangements with any specific companies, according to Shell spokesperson Barbara Kornylo. If all goes according to plan, Shell may begin trucking in their own CO2 emissions in the coming years.

The carbon capture project is based on the theory that carbon dioxide affects the climate and has led to global warming. “It’s proven the CO2 is a greenhouse gas,” Gottlieb said. [President] Obama and [Governor] Schwarzenegger have tried to mitigate green house gases.”

“Roughly one third of the United States’ carbon emissions comes from power plants and other large point sources,” according to fossil.energy.gov.