Carbon

Section Name

Sequestration
To slow the atmospheric buildup of CO2, a report from
the U.S. National Research Council recently called for
building a suite of 15 to 20 power plants with carbon cap- 1
ture and storage (CCS) before 2020. “The urgency of getting
started on these demonstrations to clarify future deployment
options cannot be overstated,” the report said. Today, a few 2
such projects are under development. Most aim either to bury
CO2 separated from natural gas reservoirs or to pump it into oil

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reservoirs to push out more oil. This map shows some of the
major CCS projects around the world.
Adapted from the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage, University of Edinburgh. Sources: U.S. DOE, (Individual
projects) MIT Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies, International Energy Agency, Cooperative
Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CRCCO2), (Graphics and layout: N. Kevitiyagala/Science)

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Weyburn-Midale Project
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
Size: 1 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr)
Start Date: 2000
CO2 from a synfuels plant in North Dakota in
the United States is piped 330 km to Weyburn,
where it is pumped into an active oil well to
enhance the amount of recovered oil.
Southwest Regional Partnership
PRICE, UTAH, USA
Size: Up to 900,000 metric tons CO2 over 4 years
Start Date: 2008
CO2 will be injected into deep underground
saltwater formations that are primary targets
for commercial-scale CO2 disposal from future
coal-fired power plants planned for the area.

3 4
Schwarze Pumpe K12-B CO2 Injection Project
SOUTHEAST OF BERLIN, GERMANY NORTH SEA, NETHERLANDS
Size: 100,000 metric tons of CO2 over 3 years Size: 200,000 metric tons/yr
Start Date: 2009 Start Date: 2004
CO2 from a lignite- and coal-burning pilot The K12-B site has produced natural gas
plant will be captured, liquefied, and since 1987. CO2 from the field is now
injected underground. separated from the natural gas and
reinjected into the same reservoir from
which it came.

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Sleipner West Snøhvit
NORTH SEA, NORWAY BARENTS SEA, NORWAY
Size: 1 Mt/yr Size: 700,000 metric tons/yr
Start Date: 1996 Start Date: 2008
Natural gas pumped from this North Sea This offshore gas field produces liquefied
CREDIT (TOP TO BOTTOM):

gas rig is stripped of CO2, which is then natural gas. CO2 is separated from the

CO2
reinjected into a deep geological layer gas and reinjected 2600 meters below
below the Sleipner platform. the sea floor.

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SPECIALSECTION
Project Stages
Planning
In process
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Completed

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Recopol In Salah GreenGen
KANIOW, POLAND IN SALAH, ALGERIA TIANJIN, CHINA
Size: 760 metric tons of CO2 Size: 1.2 Mt/yr Size: 1 Mt/yr
Start Date: 2004 Start Date: 2004 Start Date: 2016
The first project of its kind in Europe. CO2 CO2 from this natural gas field is CO2 from gasified coal will be recovered
was stored initially as a liquid, then heated compressed and reinjected into a before combustion and probably used in
and injected into coal seams about 1100 water-filled deposit 1800 meters oil recovery.
meters underground. Injection ended in below the ground. (See page 1646.)
2005; site monitoring continues.

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Erdos Otway Basin Gorgon
ERDOS, INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA SOUTHWEST VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA BARROW ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
Size: up to 3.6 Mt/yr Size: 100,000 metric tons CO2 Size: 3.3 Mt/yr
Start Date: late 2009 over 1 to 2 years Start Date: 2009
An innovative coal-to-liquid fuel plant Start Date: late 2008 One of the world’s biggest CO2
CREDIT (TOP TO BOTTOM):

will capture CO2 for use in oil recovery.
(See page 1646.)
Australia’s first CO2 deep geological
sequestration demonstration project.
CO2 from a natural gas well is separated,
compressed, and injected into a depleted
gas reservoir some 2050 meters underground.
sequestration experiments. CO2 from
natural gas fields will be separated
and injected into a saltwater reservoir
2300 meters below Barrow Island
in Australia.

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Published by AAAS