EERC-led partnership explores ways to capture, permanently store greenhouse gases

Among the partners is the Dakota Gasifactaion Co., which operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D.

Partnership is the cornerstone in the operating philosophy at the UND Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC).  No project better defines that spirit than the EERC-led CO2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership, which has been awarded nearly $21.5 million in a competitive award process to advance commercialization of climate change technologies to capture and permanently store greenhouse gases.  Most of the funding, $14.3 million, is from the U.S. Department of Energy.  Another $7 million comes from partners to test methods to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

“This award is a reflection of the strategic nature of the EERC’s research in dealing with global issues,” said EERC Director Gerald Groenewold.  “It will allow the EERC to lead four carbon sequestration field trials and two investigations of carbon management concepts.”

The PCOR Partnership is one of seven public-private consortiums that make up a national carbon sequestration network designed to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent by 2012. It includes over 40 partners from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, along with the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

EERC Associate Director for Research John Harju said two field trials will be conducted in the Williston Basin: One will investigate the role that enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can play in sequestration, and another will investigate the potential for enhanced coal bed methane recovery in lignite fields.

“These efforts are important in that the enhanced resource recovery aspects of the projects may help to significantly offset the costs of carbon capture and storage, absent other economic drivers,” Harju said.  “The implementation of EOR in some Williston Basin fields could extend their productive lives by 20 years or more.”

A third field trial will re-inject carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, an impurity often co-produced with oil and gas, back into a reservoir at a site near Zama, Alberta, for carbon dioxide sequestration and EOR, said EERC Senior Research Advisor Ed Steadman.  A fourth field project, in conjunction with Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Xcel Energy, and the U.S. Geological Survey, will study the effects of alternative conservation management practices on wetlands.

“Managed properly, wetlands provide an efficient means of offsetting carbon emissions.  Wetland vegetation naturally pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and deposits it into sediments and soils,” Steadman said.  “Our ultimate goal is to develop a system whereby landowners earn conservation and carbon dioxide offsets or payments for wetland management.  More wetlands means more wildlife habitat, cleaner water, and many other conservation benefits.”

Two carbon management strategy studies will take place in North Dakota and Minnesota.  In partnership with Basin Electric Power Cooperative, the EERC will investigate the feasibility of using wind power to reduce the energy penalty from compressing carbon dioxide to the required pressure and temperature for use in oil and gas recovery operations.

The EERC will also work with Excelsior Energy, Inc., to develop a carbon management strategy for a new integrated gasification combined-cycle power plant planned in Minnesota’s Iron Range.

“Developing a carbon management strategy for Excelsior Energy will establish a model for other utilities planning new power plants, providing them with options to reduce or eliminate carbon dioxide emissions,” Steadman said.

In addition to the EERC and DOE, participating partners include the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board; Amerada Hess Corp.; Apache Canada Ltd.; Basin Electric Power Cooperative; British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources; Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED); Dakota Gasification Co.; Ducks Unlimited Canada; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Eagle Operating, Inc.; Eastern Iowa Community College District; Encore Acquisition Co.; Environment Canada; Excelsior Energy Inc.; Fischer Oil and Gas, Inc.; Great Northern Power Development, LP; Great River Energy; Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission; Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Lignite Energy Council; Minnesota Power; Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc.; Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.; Montana Department of Environmental Quality; Natural Resources Canada; Nexant, Inc.; North Dakota Department of Health; North Dakota Geological Survey; North Dakota Industrial Commission Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division; North Dakota Industrial Commission Lignite Research, Development and Marketing Program; North Dakota Industrial Commission Oil and Gas Research Council; North Dakota Natural Resources Trust; North Dakota Petroleum Council; North Dakota State University; Otter Tail Power Co.; Petroleum Technology Transfer Council; Prairie Public Television; Saskatchewan Industry and Resources; SaskPower; Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; U.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center; Western Governors Association; and Xcel Energy.

Groenewold said the $21.5 million award, the EERC’s largest single award to date, “will serve as a catalyst to hire more talented and well-paid people to live and work in the Grand Forks region.”