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

William A. Ambrose
Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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 6,000 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.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90065©2007 AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, Wichita Falls, Texas