Bruce Johnstone
The Leader-Post
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A trail-blazing, Regina-based research project to study the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers was the recipient of $5 million in federal funding Monday.
The Aquistore Project, conducted by a consortium led by the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina, was one of 19 "clean technology'' projects that received $57 million in funds under the management of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
The PTRC will use the funding to study the feasibility of storing CO2 in deep saline aquifers. Deep saline aquifers are geological formations with storage capacity over 10 times larger than depleted oil reservoirs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
The Aquistore Project's consortium members include Consumers' Co-operative Refineries Ltd. (CCRL), Enbridge Inc., SaskEnergy Inc. and Schlumberger Carbon Services.
The salty water contained in deep saline aquifers is not suitable for drinking or agriculture, making the geological formations an ideal storage area for large-scale industrial CO2 emitters around the world. The Aquistore Project represents the first large-scale (500 tonnes per day of CO2) application of saline aquifer storage of CO2 in North America and the second-largest in the world.
"This is the first comprehensive project,'' said Carolyn Preston, executive director of the PTRC. "We're going from (geological) selection all the way to (CO2) injection monitoring. It's the first project ... on that scale in North America.''
Preston said carbon dioxide will be captured from a hydrogen reformer at the CCRL refinery and upgrader complex in north Regina and carried by a small-diameter pipeline about 10 km north of the city for injection into one of three potential sites. The deep saline aquifers are 2,500 to 3,000 metres deep, far below any potable water or oil and natural gas-bearing formations, she said.
"Right now, the CO2 and the hydrogen that can't be captured are being vented (into the atmosphere),'' she said. "(CCRL) is going to put capture equipment on the reformers during the expansion they're planning. They will also get the hydrogen they use for upgrading (heavy crude) oil.''
SaskEnergy will build the pipeline, while Schlumberger will drill and operate the injection wells. The project could also sell the captured CO2 if there is commercial buyer for it.
"Once the five-year monitoring project is over, it's intended to continue operation ... If it's really successful, (CCRL) will add capture to other two reformers and it becomes a larger-scale injection (project)."
Preston said the project could cost up to $100 million -- of which roughly half could be eligible for federal government funding through SDTC. "We've applied to the (federal) ecoEnergy initiative as well. We're in the second round for that. We've also applied to Saskatchewan Environment for $5 million.''
SDTC, an arm's length, non-profit foundation, has received more than $1 billion from the federal government to support research and development of environmentally sustainable technologies.
SDTC operate two funds: the $550 million sustainable development tech fund, which supports projects that address climate change, air, water and soil quality issues, and the $500-million NextGen Biofuels fund, which supports demonstration projects for the production of 'next generation' biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
