Integrated Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage for the Mid-Continent Region of the United States

Abstract

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) with CO2 captured from bio-energy projects (BECCS) has been identified as an important technology for reducing CO2 emissions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [1]. Capture from ethanol sources is proved at commercial scale (i.e., million tonnes per year scale) for storage at the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project . In states like Nebraska and Kansas where there is a large ethanol production industry in addition to significant electricity generation, CCUS projects can be started immediately with ethanol-based-CO2 as a source and expanded as electricity-generated-CO2 comes on line commercially. A CO2 source corridor was identified from sources in eastern Nebraska westward to sources in Columbus and then southwestward to storage areas in the oilfields in Red Willow and surrounding counties. Between 2.1 and 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year could be collected from this source corridor. Stacked storage is an important vehicle for early implementation because revenue from CO2-enhanced oil recovery could be paired with existing tax credits and subsidies to support the construction of capture and transport infrastructure as a commercial enterprise. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the midcontinent hub concept. It shows that the economics and geology are favorable for early implementation of commercial scale CCUS utilizing BECCS to decarbonize biofuels and support local agriculture and oil production.