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DOE
Sequestration Partnerships Expanding
DOE recently announced that seven new states and 13
organizations have joined the Carbon Sequestration Regional
Partnership Program. DOE's Partnership Program is a nationwide
network of federal, state, and private sector partnerships
that are determining the most suitable technologies,
regulations, and infrastructure for future carbon capture,
storage and sequestration in different areas of the country.
Seven original partnerships were selected in August 2003 (www.pttc.
org/news/3qtr2003/v9n3p10.
htm#4),
which now include 154 organizations spanning 40 states, three
Indian nations, and two Canadian provinces. The three
partnerships adding new participants are:
Southeast Regional Carbon
Sequestration Partnership—The states of Virginia
and Texas became part of the Southeast Regional Carbon
Sequestration Partnership in March, joining Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Tennessee. The state of Texas, already a
member of the Southwest Regional Partnership for Carbon
Sequestration, is now part of two partnerships. The focus of
the Southeast Partnership in Texas will be carbon capture and
sequestration opportunities in the Gulf Coast area.
Plains CO2 Reduction
Partnership—The Plains CO2 Reduction
Partnership also expanded with the addition of Nebraska, Iowa,
Missouri, and Wisconsin. These states join the existing states
of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota,
as well as partners from industry and academia. The
partnership is led by the Energy & Environmental Research
Center at the University of North Dakota. Other new members to
this partnership are Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Institute
for Wetland and Waterfowl Research Northern Prairie Wildlife
Research Center.
Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration
Partnership—Michigan and Maryland have joined
Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania to
expand the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership.
In addition, nine organizations have joined the
partnership—Michigan State University, the University of
Maryland, Western Michigan University, the |
Maryland Geologic Survey, AES Warrior Run Power Plant, the
Maryland Energy Administration, DTE Energy, Alliance Resources
Partners, and Constellation Energy.
Further information available in DOE's Tech Line (www.fe.doe.
gov/news/techlines/2004/tl_
regional_partnerships.html).
NEW DOE Projects Address Produced Water & Federal
Lands Issues
DOE recently announced nine
new projects, totaling $10 million, addressing federal lands
and produced water issues. Projects by the Groundwater
Protection Research Foundation and Interstate Oil and Gas
Compact Commission (IOGCC) are part of the federal lands
spotlight and involve data exchange and analysis between
federal, state and local government agencies. They are geared
to streamline the data management process. The other seven
projects target produced water.
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Groundwater Protection
Research Foundation—integrate state-collected environmental
data with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management lease stipulation
data and oil and gas reserves inventories.
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IOGCC—faster and more
comprehensive access to existing oil and gas data.
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Colorado School of Mines—produced
water management from production through treatment and
beneficial use. Includes enhanced CBM, hydrogeology and soil
science in Powder River Basin.
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IOGCC—best management
practices for produced water handling. Evaluate produced water
management from a holistic standpoint, including beneficial use,
water resource impacts, pre-release treatment, and regulatory
issues.
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New Mexico Tech—new
reverse osmosis technology to efficiently treat the high total
dissolved salts in produced water.
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Oklahoma State University—field
data to learn the true potential for environmental effects and
whether existing discharge standards are appropriate.
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Texas A&M University, Texas
Engineering Experiment Station—cleaning agents and new
practices to remove plugging materials and to restore
microfilter and reverse osmosis membrane performance.
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University of Texas (Austin)—explore
new alternatives to purify produced water.
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University of Texas (Austin)—field
test of a prototype surfactant-modified zeolite treatment system
for removing dissolved organics from produced water.
Further information on the
awards and individual projects available online (www.fe.doe.gov/news
techlines/2004/tl_oilgas_awards_
081604.html).
Initial Projects Selected in Gas Storage
Technology Consortium
The DOE-supported, recently
formed Gas Storage Technology Consortium (GSTC),
www.energy.
psu.edu/gstc/, has as its primary focus
demonstration of technologies to preserve and improve the
deliverability and management of existing conventional storage
reservoirs and salt cavern facilities. A secondary focus will
be on researching manmade storage systems and other
non-traditional methods in close proximity to demand centers.
Membership levels include full member, affiliate members
(associations, professional societies, etc.) and university
members. Robert Watson with Pennsylvania State University
directs the Consortium.
Competition for 2004-2005
funding recently occurred and GSTC announced the following six
winners:
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Correlations Co.—"Smart Gas:
Using Chemicals To Improve Gas Deliverability"
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West Virginia University—"Gas
Storage Field Deliverability Enhancement and Maintenance"
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Kinder
Morgan—"Deliverability Enhancement for Gas Storage Wells"
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Colorado Engineering
Experiment Station Inc.— "Evaluation of Separators for Gas
Storage Fluid Control"
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Colorado School of Mines
—"Low-Cost Downhole Pressure Monitoring"
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Clemson University—"Produced
Water Cleanup Using Hybrid Constructed Wetland Technology"
Further information about
GSTC and the initial project awards is available online (www.energy.
psu.edu/gstc/index.html).
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DOE
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