Draft2:Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

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A map of the MRCSP region

The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) is one of seven regional partnerships established by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) to study carbon sequestration as one option for mitigating climate change. DOE combines the findings from PCOR with other RCSP programs to build a national carbon storage atlas (NATCARB).

The MRCSP region originally consisted of seven contiguous states: Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. New York became the eighth member state in 2007. In the summer of 2009, New Jersey joined the MRCSP as its ninth state. Delaware recently joined in 2015. A group of universities, state geological surveys, nongovernmental organizations and private companies, led by Battelle, carry out research for the partnership.

Core Functions

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A pie chart of CO2 emission sources in the MRCSP region.

MRCSP's main goals are:

• Bring together internationally recognized research leaders to help develop practical carbon management solutions.

Define the real-world potential and implementation of carbon storage in the region.

• Help the region create a robust and cost-effective means for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• Validate the potential for implementation of geologic storage in the region by first conducting several small-scale CO2 injection field tests (validation phase) into selected deep geologic reservoirs to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of geologic storage systems.
• Validate the potential for terrestrial storage in the region by conducting three small-scale terrestrial field tests to demonstrate enhanced carbon uptake and validate measurement techniques used to quantify terrestrial carbon storage.
• Engage public and elected officials at all levels in dialogue on issues affecting implementation of storage and the potential benefits associated with geologic and terrestrial storage.
• Link options for capture, transportation, and geologic storage within the environmental and regulatory framework.
• Enable the region to take a leadership position in developing local and global carbon management solutions.

Topic at DOE

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A map of the seven RCSP regions

DOE's Office of Fossil Energy has created a network of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP's) to help develop the technology, infrastructure, and regulations to implement large-scale CO2 storage (also called carbon sequestration) in different regions and geologic formations within the nation. Collectively, the seven RCSPs represent regions encompassing:

• 97 percent of coal-fired CO2 emissions
• 97 percent of industrial CO2 emissions
• 96 percent of the total land mass

History

Each RCSP has three main phases: characterization, validation, and development.

Phase I

Phase I, the characterization phase, began in 2003 and sought to find potential locations for geologic storage in the MRCSP states. Potential sites extend from the deep rock formations in the broad sedimentary basins and arches in the western portion of the region to the offshore continental shelf in the east. Research and testing has established many promising geologic units for CO2 storage, including deep saline rock formations, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, organic shale basins, and coalbeds. Due to its large and diverse economy, the MRCSP region includes a large variety of agricultural and industrial sources of GHGs. The MRCSP region emits more than 699 million metric tons of CO2 each year from large stationary sources, including power plants, refineries, cement plants, and iron and steel plants.

Phase II

In Phase II, the validation phase, MRCSP conducted field tests on potential geologic formations capable of storing CO2. MRCSP has conducted three small-scale CO2 injection field tests in the region's deep geologic formations. Results from these efforts demonstrated that CO2 can be effectively stored and contained within the extensive saline formations in the region. The MRCSP also conducted four terrestrial storage field validation tests on reclaimed mineland, agricultural land, restored marshland, and restored forested wetlands. The studies documented how naturally stored carbon can be measured and monitored and how carbon credits could be traded in voluntary GHG markets.

Phase III

Phase III, the development phase, includes a saline injection test located on a state-owned land management area in Otsego County, Michigan, approximately 10 miles south of the successful validation phase demonstration. The development phase site lies within 1 mile of a gas processing and compression facility, which is the CO2 source for the test. The facility currently produces 600 metric tons per day of high purity CO2, which is removed from the natural gas produced from Antrim shales in the area. During the test, a total of 1 million metric tons of CO2 would be injected into the St. Peter Sandstone over a 4-year period. The St. Peter formation is second only to the Mt. Simon Sandstone as a regional resource for CO2 storage.

Related

• Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships

Link

• MRCSP Homepage