The Impact of the Clean Development Mechanism and Enhanced Oil Recovery on the Economics of Carbon Capture and Geological Storage for Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Abstract Carbon capture and storage (CCS) have been identified as one of the more promising carbon dioxide (CO2) emission mitigation techniques in the short term. One of the major issues involved in the implementation of this technology is the high cost incurred in the capture process. When this high cost is coupled with the associated transportation and geological storage costs, the overall process is often deemed uneconomical. Any effort dedicated towards reducing carbon capture costs would then be particularly useful and critical in improving the overall economics. Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has many unique factors that can potentially reduce this cost. Amongst these are pure CO2 sources, the relatively cheap electricity costs and the close proximity of these CO2 sources to geological sinks. During Ammonia production, CO2 is a by-product and can occur in purities of over 90% by volume of output gases. Owing to this, the capture cost can be significantly reduced. This paper factors in this reduced capture cost together with potential returns from associated Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to assess the economic feasibility for T&T. A sensitivity analysis was done to ascertain the minimum oil and carbon trading prices needed for economic feasibility. The results were then compared with actual present day prices and projected forecasts. This work can help guide future energy polices in T&T so that two major problems can be addressed in cohesion, the issue of depleting oil reserves and that of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.