Carbon capture and storage policy in the United States: A new coalition endeavors to change existing policy

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered by some to be a promising technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and advocates are seeking policies to facilitate its deployment. Unlike many countries, which approach the development of policies for geologic storage (GS) of carbon dioxide (CO₂) with nearly a blank slate, the U.S. already has a mature policy regime devoted to the injection of CO₂ into deep geologic formations. However, the existing governance of CO₂ injection is designed to manage enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and policy changes would be needed to manage the risks and benefits of CO₂ injection for the purpose of avoiding GHG emissions. We review GS policy developments at both the U.S. federal and state levels, including original research on state GS policy development. By applying advocacy coalition framework theory, we identify two competing coalitions defined by their beliefs about the primary purpose of CO₂ injection: energy supply or greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The established energy coalition is the beneficiary of the current policy regime. Their vision of GS policy is protective: to minimize harm to fossil energy industries if climate policy were to be enacted. In contrast, the newly formed climate coalition seeks to change existing GS policy to support their proactive vision: to maximize GHG reductions using CCS when climate policy is enacted. We explore where and at what scale legislation emerges and examine which institutions gain prominence as drivers of policy change. Through a detailed textual analysis of the content of state GS legislation, we find that the energy coalition has had greater success than the climate coalition in shaping state laws to align with its policy preferences. It has enshrined its view of the purpose of CO₂ injection in state legislation, delegated authority for GS to state agencies aligned with the existing policy regime, and protected the EOR status quo, while creating new opportunities for EOR operators to profit from the storage of CO₂ The climate coalition's objective of proactively putting GS policy in place has been furthered, and important progress has been made on commonly held concerns, such as the resolution of property rights issues, but the net result is policy change that does not significantly revise the existing policy regime.     

Initial public reactions to carbon capture and storage (CCS): differentiating general and local views

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered a potential climate change mitigation option, but public opposition may hamper its implementation. A quasi-experimental approach is used to examine whether ‘not in my back yard’ (NIMBY) sentiments can be anticipated at the initial stage when CO₂ storage locations have been selected and communicated to the public. Furthermore, the psychological structure of initial reactions to CO₂ storage plans is studied to ascertain the differences between people living in the direct vicinity of a proposed CO₂ storage location (i.e. onsite residents) and people who do not (i.e. offsite residents). The results indicate that initial reactions to local CCS plans are not necessarily dominated by NIMBY sentiments. For onsite residents as well as offsite residents, trust in government affects their judgements of the risks and benefits associated with CCS, which in turn affects their inclination to protest against CCS plans. Onsite residents’ inclination to protest is affected by their perceptions of local safety risks, but this is less of a concern for offsite residents. The inclination to protest against CCS is unrelated to concern about climate change.     

Designing policy for deployment of CCS in industry

Attaining deep greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in industry in order to support a stringent climate change control target will be difficult without recourse to CO₂ capture and storage (CCS). Using the insights from a long-term bottom-up energy systems model, and undertaking a sectoral assessment, we investigated the importance of CCS in the industrial sector. Under climate policy aimed at limiting atmospheric concentration of GHGs to 650 ppm CO₂e, costs could increase fivefold when CCS is excluded from the portfolio of mitigation option measures in the industry sector as compared to when CCS is excluded in the power sector. This effect is driven largely by the lack of alternatives for deep emission reductions in industry. Our main policy conclusion is that a broader recognition of CCS in industrial applications in both current policy discussions and research, development, and demonstration funding programmes is justified. In recognition of the heterogeneity of the many types of industrial production processes, the size and location of industrial CO₂ sources, the specific need for CCS-retrofitting, and the exposure of most industrial sectors to international trade, policies aimed at supporting CCS must distinguish between the different challenges faced by the power and industrial sectors.     

Consequences of a simulated rapid ocean acidification event for benthic ecosystem processes and functions

Whilst the biological consequences of long-term, gradual changes in acidity associated with the oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) are increasingly studied, the potential effects of rapid acidification associated with a failure of sub-seabed carbon storage infrastructure have received less attention. This study investigates the effects of severe short-term (8 days) exposure to acidified seawater on infaunal mediation of ecosystem processes (bioirrigation and sediment particle redistribution) and functioning (nutrient concentrations). Following acidification, individuals of Amphiura filiformis exhibited emergent behaviour typical of a stress response, which resulted in altered bioturbation, but limited changes in nutrient cycling. Under acidified conditions, A. filiformis moved to shallower depths within the sediment and the variability in occupancy depth reduced considerably. This study indicated that rapid acidification events may not be lethal to benthic invertebrates, but may result in behavioural changes that could have longer-term implications for species survival, ecosystem structure and functioning.     

Distribution of sea urchins living near shallow water CO2 vents is dependent upon species acid–base and ion-regulatory abilities

To reduce the negative effect of climate change on Biodiversity, the use of geological CO₂ sequestration has been proposed; however leakage from underwater storages may represent a risk to marine life. As extracellular homeostasis is important in determining species’ ability to cope with elevated CO₂, we investigated the acid–base and ion regulatory responses, as well as the density, of sea urchins living around CO₂ vents at Vulcano, Italy. We conducted in situ transplantation and field-based laboratory exposures to different pCO₂/pH regimes. Our results confirm that sea urchins have some ability to regulate their extracellular fluid under elevated pCO₂. Furthermore, we show that even in closely-related taxa divergent physiological capabilities underlie differences in taxa distribution around the CO₂ vent. It is concluded that species distribution under the sort of elevated CO₂ conditions occurring with leakages from geological storages and future ocean acidification scenarios, may partly be determined by quite subtle physiological differentiation.     

Focused fluid flow and the sub-seabed storage of CO2: Evaluating the leakage potential of seismic chimney structures for the Sleipner CO2 storage operation

The integrity of the caprock of a storage formation is the most crucial parameter for the long-term performance of a geological CO₂ storage site. The Sleipner area in the Southern Viking Graben hosts the first and longest operating industrial scale CO₂ storage project, where CO₂ is injected in a saline aquifer of the Utsira Formation. Time-lapse seismic monitoring shows neither that CO₂ has left the Utsira Formation nor indications for fracturing of the caprock by the CO₂ injection activity, which is in agreement with previous numerical simulations. However, large chimney structures as close as 7 km from the injection point indicate that the caprock has been breached in the geological past, which may raise questions about the integrity of the caprock above the Sleipner CO₂ storage site. Here, we present seismically constrained numerical fluid flow simulations that evaluate the influence of chimney structures on the long-term performance of the CO₂ storage operation at Sleipner. The simulation could reproduce the spreading of the Sleipner CO₂ plume, which is controlled by the anisotropic permeability field of the Utsira Formation and the regional dip of the formation top. We have performed long-term plume evolution simulations, which show that the injected CO₂ will not reach the existing chimney structures assuming a realistic injection duration of 30 years. Our simulations indicate that an unrealistically long injection period between 92 and 140 years would be required for the CO₂ to reach the existing chimney structures. In this case, a comparably low chimney permeability of 10 mD may be sufficient to facilitate CO₂ migration from the storage formation to the seafloor, once the CO₂ has reached a chimney structure. However, the simulations indicate that it is very unlikely that the CO₂ may migrate along existing chimney structures at Sleipner. Our results highlight that the reconstruction of palaeo fluid flow systems and the identification of focused fluid conduits should be considered in the assessment of CO₂ storage sites.     

Challenges for social impact assessment in coastal regions: A case study of the Tomakomai CCS Demonstration Project

This paper assesses challenges for social impact assessment (SIA) for coastal and offshore infrastructure projects, using the case study of the Tomakomai Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Demonstration Project in Hokkaido, Japan. Interest in SIA and linked concepts such as social licence to operate is growing, yet marine environments also have potential to raise additional complexity in project governance. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Tomakomai and Japan more widely across the project development and implementation phase, the paper argues that building an understanding of the social, cultural and historical relationship between the community, industry and the sea is crucial to understanding the neutral or cautiously supportive response of the citizens and stakeholders in Tomakomai to the project. Moreover, effective SIA in coastal regions needs to find a way to account for – or at least make visible – these complex relations between society and the sea. Based on the findings, it is suggested that developers or policymakers overseeing SIA in coastal regions ought to pay extra attention to the extent to which developments like CCS are viewed by communities as 'new' as opposed to a continuation of existing activities in the sea; to the importance of engagement on monitoring during the project operations phase; and to the non-economic values such as pride and identity which communities and stakeholders may derive from the sea.     

Evaluation of CO2 solubility-trapping and mineral-trapping in microbial-mediated CO2–brine–sandstone interaction

Evaluation of CO₂ solubility-trapping and mineral-trapping by microbial-mediated process was investigated by lab experiments in this study. The results verified that microbes could adapt and keep relatively high activity under extreme subsurface environment (pH < 5, temperature > 50 °C, salinity > 1.0 mol/L). When microbes mediated in the CO₂–brine–sandstone interaction, the CO₂ solubility-trapping was enhanced. The more biomass of microbe added, the more amount of CO₂ dissolved and trapped into the water. Consequently, the corrosion of feldspars and clay minerals such as chlorite was improved in relative short-term CO₂–brine–sandstone interaction, providing a favorable condition for CO₂ mineral-trapping. Through SEM images and EDS analyses, secondary minerals such as transition-state calcite and crystal siderite were observed, further indicating that the microbes played a positive role in CO₂ mineral trapping. As such, bioaugmentation of indigenous microbes would be a promising technology to enhance the CO₂ capture and storage in such deep saline aquifer like Erdos, China.     

碳封存项目井喷CO2扩散危险水平分级方法研究

针对碳封存（CCS）项目井喷后的二氧化碳（CO2）气体泄漏扩散对附近居民的影响问题,提出将CO2井喷速率作为分级指标进行扩散危险水平分级。以内蒙古自治区鄂尔多斯市伊金霍洛旗地形、气候等条件为环境背景,以神华CCS示范项目为参考,运用CALPUFF高斯扩散模型模拟发生井喷事故,计算CO2气体扩散影响范围。根据扩散范围与井喷速率变化的相关关系,对CO2扩散危险水平进行分级。根据50 000 ppm浓度的最大扩散范围将CO2井喷扩散分为3个等级：Level 1、Level 2、Level 3,对应的井喷速率范围分别为0～2.5、2.5～10.0、10～20 m/s,对应扩散距离分别为0～130、130～180、180～420 m。通过与模拟场地周围环境条件和人群分布特点的交叉分析,当危险性等级为3级时,会威胁到泄漏井筒附近420 m范围内CCS场地内工作人员、散户居民以及附近公路上的过往行人的安全。该项危险水平分级研究工作有助于健全国家相关部门对CCS的监管,同时有利于推动CCS示范项目的健康发展。     

CO2地质封存时移垂直地震监测技术

神华CO2捕获和封存（carbon capture and storage,CCS）示范项目是我国首个全流程煤基CO2捕获和在低孔低渗深部咸水层进行多层注入的CO2封存示范项目,意在通过时移垂直地震（VSP）监测CO2地质封存状况。介绍了CO2地质封存时移VSP技术和监测效果。通过注气前后3次VSP观测,得到了高品质时移VSP资料,研究了一致性处理技术、矢量波场分离和多波成像技术,获得了高分辨率的多波时移VSP剖面,通过深度域标定和多种属性解释对比,分析了注气前后VSP地震响应特征,预测了CO2地下运移范围,达到CCS项目预期监测目标。结果证明,时移VSP技术是监测CO2地质封存与运移的有效技术手段。