Geologic Cross Sections Beneath Kentucky’s Major Rivers to Determine Potential Carbon Storage Options along Industrial Corridors

Stephen F. Greb and Michael P. Solis
Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506-0107, [email protected]

As carbon emission legislation draws near, there are increasing questions among the public, industry, and government about the potential for carbon storage. In Kentucky, the Energy and Environment Cabinet (previously Governor’s Office of Energy Policy) requested a summary of Kentucky’s sequestration options, both for existing infrastructure and for future CO₂-intensive industries. More than 90 percent of Kentucky’s electricity is from coal-fired utilities, and most are located along major rivers because the plants require large amounts of water. Therefore, a series of regional cross sections were constructed across Kentucky’s major waterways to illustrate sequestration options along the major industrial corridors of the Ohio River (divided into four separate sections), Green River, Kentucky River, Cumberland River, and Tug Fork. These sections use 128 subsurface well logs and available seismic data. Each cross section includes the location of major cities and existing utilities, geophysical logs, geologic structures, correlations and projections of rock units to basement, and description of subsurface geologic units with details pertinent to carbon storage. A 2,500-foot depth line is also included to indicate the approximate depth needed for CO₂ to be in the supercritical or dense phase for maximum storage capacity. Potential depth-related reductions in porosity and permeability in some of the regional saline reservoirs are also indicated. The cross sections provide a graphic image of the changing geology and thereby varied options for carbon storage along the industrial corridors, as well as the availability of data at depth, from which decisions about storage options have to be made.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90095©2009 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Evansville, Indiana, September 20-22, 2009