Introduction to Geological Sequestration - Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration - page 369

Section 4
Examples of sequestration
projects
At present, several large scale projects store CO 2 around the world.
These projects are summarized in Tables 8.4.1 and 8.4.2. They have a
combined capture and storage capacity of approximately 36 Mtpa,
equivalent to the emissions of more than seven million cars per year and
roughly equivalent to the current annual emissions of Singapore or New
Zealand [8.8]. Of course, compared to the total CO 2 emissions, this is a
modest amount. These projects are, however, important because they
help us to obtain the necessary experience in injecting CO 2 and monitor-
ing the injected CO 2 plume.
Weyburn
The Weyburn CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) project is located in
the Williston Basin, a geological structure extending from south-central
Canada into north-central USA (see Figure 8.4.1 ). Whereas in conven-
tional enhanced oil recovery processes the CO 2 is recycled, the aim of
this project is to permanently store almost all of the injected CO 2 . The
source of the CO 2 is the Dakota Gasifi cation Company facility, located
approximately 325 km south of Weyburn in Beulah, North Dakota. At the
plant, coal is gasifi ed to make synthetic gas (methane), with a relatively
pure stream of CO 2 as a by-product. This CO 2 stream gets dehydrated,
compressed and transported via a pipeline to Weyburn in southeastern
Saskatchewan, Canada (see Figure 8.4.1 ). Over the life of this project
(20-25 years), it is expected that some 20 Mt CO 2 will be stored in the
fi eld. CO 2 injection began in 2000 and the fi eld is being extensively moni-
tored. The monitoring includes high-resolution seismic surveys and sur-
face monitoring to determine any potential leakage, as well as analysis of
the groundwater.