Myths of carbon capture 'challenge' Alberta expert
Technique best suited to power plants and industry, not oilsands, says Stefan Bachu
By Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal
January 2, 2010
For one of the world's leading experts on the geological storage of carbon dioxide, there seems to be more demanding work to do on the surface of the Earth than deep underground.
"My biggest challenge is to convince the public, politicians and green NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not a ploy by the oil industry -- seen as the villains -- to extend the life of fossil fuels," said Stefan Bachu, honoured recently by the Alberta Research Council as a "Distinguished Scientist," its top award.
Bachu's expertise in CCS, his work over the decades, his record of successful projects and his list of national and international collaborations convinced the council to make the rare award, only the fifth in its 88-year history.
His work has helped position CO2 storage as a key way to deliver substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions. And in 2007, he was one of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize as a lead author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report on CO2 capture and storage.
Colleagues are generous in their praise of Bachu, a hydro-geologist/ engineer.
"If I need to get a straight answer about a complicated or important issue relating to (geological storage), Stefan is one of three people in the world I call," said Howard Herzog, senior research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative.
Brent Lakeman, the research council's business unit manager for carbon and energy management, said the award is "for true leaders who are directing a research team of size and significance."
One of the past winners was Bill Gunter, a now-retired geochemist who also played a major role in the council's leading-edge work on CO2 storage.
"With Stefan and Bill, it is like Lennon and McCartney. The ARC is renowned for its work in this area," Lakeman said.
Perhaps the best-known project locally is the HARP (Heartland Area Redwater Project), which aims to understand the storage potential in the Redwater reef structure.
An oil and gas firm, ARC Resources, produces oil from one area of the reef and will soon drill an exploratory well into a non-oil-bearing zone to study its suitability for carbon dioxide storage.
The firm and council have worked closely, as Bachu is also research manager for HARP.
"He brings a wealth of experience and insight to the storage component of CCS, which has been very helpful to us," said Bill Sawchuk, manager of enhanced oil recovery reservoir engineering for ARC Resources.
Sawchuk said while the capture and transport of CO2 can now be considered almost routine, considerable research remains to be done on the storage component of CCS.
In an interview, Bachu said more "money and people" are needed to better understand geological storage.
"Not too many politicians and others understand that even if they make these decisions on carbon capture, they won't have the capacity to deliver" without more research, he said.
"CCS is part of the global solution to CO2 emissions, and not the only one. But without it we will not attain the targets."
Bachu said CCS is best targeted at coal-fired power generation plants.
"The (global) focus on Canada and the oilsands is totally misplaced."
Every week China adds about 10,000 megawatts of coal-fired power-generating capacity, almost as much as Alberta's total electrical power-generating capacity.
"CCS is about CO2 from coal-fired plants and large industrial operations like cement and steel plants, not about the oilsands."
Alberta is one of the few areas in the world with excellent geological formations for storing CO2, which is why CCS is so important here, he said.
"This is a big challenge for China because they may or may not have the geological capacity. There is plenty of capacity east of the Rockies and the Andes, and the North Sea. Australia has good capacity, but not where the resources are, and there is almost nothing in Japan and Korea."
Which brings Bachu to his second big challenge -- getting some large-scale CCS demonstration projects off the ground in the next few years.
"We need large-scale injection of CO2 between 2020 and 2050, cradle to grave for CO2, and places to put it safely."
Bachu predicts a major public education effort will be needed in some countries.
"Besides the North Sea, there are places on land in Europe to put it, but some people don't want it even if it is three miles down, so it is no longer NIMBY (not in my backyard) but not even under my backyard.
"They simply don't understand that CCS is safe (held under enormous pressure in porous rock, much like natural gas). Even well-educated people I met in Europe believe there will be huge lakes and rivers of CO2 flowing underground which will burst through the surface," he said.
"Perhaps public perception is the biggest challenge of all."
