Gulf Coast ready to develop carbon storage hub

Date:
July 6, 2021
Source:
University of Texas at Austin
Summary:
The stage is set for a new carbon storage economy to emerge along
the Gulf Coast, according to a new study, with the region offering
ample opportunities to capture and store carbon, and recent state
and federal incentives giving an added push to get started.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
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." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Texas_at_Austin. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. T.A. Meckel, A.P. Bump, S.D. Hovorka, R.H. Trevino. Carbon capture,
utilization, and storage hub development on the Gulf
Coast. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, 2021; DOI:
10.1002/ghg.2082 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210706115351.htm

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