Carbon-capture project near Craig gets boost

By Gary Harmon
Thursday, August 26, 2010

A project to study the potential of carbon sequestration in northwest Colorado received a $5 million boost from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Colorado state geologist said.

The project, which could show the way for other sequestration projects on the Colorado Plateau, was being funded with $4.8 million from various participants.

The Energy Department last week, though, agreed to inject $5 million into the project, state Geologist Vince Matthews told the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

The three-year project will evaluate the potential of carbon-dioxide sequestration near Craig and a reservoir that could contain an estimated 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide, Matthews said.

The site itself is typical, suggesting it might be the prototype for similar sequestration sites in Colorado and Utah, Matthews said. If successful, the site could attract carbon-emitting industries such as power plants, gas processing plants, oil shale production and other industries that are a significant part of western Colorado’s economy.

“It could conceivably be an economic boon for northwest Colorado,” Matthews said.

The study has additional beneficial implications in that otherwise proprietary data held by energy companies will be made public, Matthews said.

The University of Utah and the Colorado Geological Survey are leading the project, which brings together scientists from the Colorado and Utah geological surveys, in collaboration with other states’ geological surveys, to assess sequestration opportunities in the Rocky Mountain region.

Other participants in the project include Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the University of Utah, Colorado Geological Survey, Shell Exploration and Production, and Schlumberger Carbon Services.

The original project began with $3.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and $1 million from Schlumberger.

The project is one of 11 nationwide for which the Energy Department awarded a total of $75.5 million to examine promising geologic formations for carbon-dioxide storage.