Carbon Capture and Sequestration: Bridging the Gap

Carbon Capture and Sequestration: Bridging the Gap
Common Greenhouse Gases
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Carbon dioxide (CO2)
CO2
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Greenhouse Effect
Electricity
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• Emissions come from burning fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and
Some solar radiation passes through the
atmosphere, and some is absorbed and
re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse
gas molecules. This process warms the
Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere.
coal).
Methane (CH4)
• Emissions come from landfills, rice paddies, livestock, organic
700 ft
waste such as sewage, and coal seams.
Nitrous oxide (N2O)
Some solar radiation is
reflected by the Earth
and the atmosphere.
CO2
• Emissions come from fertilized croplands and burning fossil fuels.
CO2
CO2
Methane
Water vapor (H20)
Solar radiation
passes through
the clear
atmosphere.
Infrared radiation is
emitted from the
Earth’s surface.
Some radiation
is trapped by
greenhouse gases.
1,500 ft
• Emissions come from natural sources, industrial processes, and
deep coal seam
transportation.
The Earth absorbs
most of the radiation,
which warms the
planet’s surface.
Oil
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k(
g roc
ealin
e .g. sha
l e , de nse lim es
t
one
)
3,000 ft
Porous and permeable rock
(e.g. sandstone or vuggy dolomite)
• The atmosphere warms the planet by trapping the Earth’s heat. The
gases in the atmosphere raise the average temperature
approximately 60°F.
Carbon Sequestration
Image courtesy www.nasa.gov
• In 1827, J. B. J. Fourier discovered the greenhouse effect.
Carbon sequestration is the capture of carbon dioxide from point sources
Illinois
before the gas enters the atmosphere. Reducing the amount of CO2, a
greenhouse gas, emitted into the atmosphere may help slow global warming.
Figure modified from www.epa.gov
Sequestration options:
Global Warming
Indiana
• Geologic sequestration stores carbon underground in coal seams,
saline aquifers, or oil reservoirs.
• Terrestrial sequestration stores carbon in soils, crops, or other plants.
Global warming is the average increase in the Earth’s temperature
over time.
• Oceanic sequestration stores carbon at the bottom
Illinois Basin
of the ocean.
• The Earth’s temperature has changed over geologic history.
The Illinois Basin is a good place for geologic
• Average temperatures have increased 1°F over the past century. Leading scientists
sequestration:
think humans have contributed to this increase in emission of greenhouse gases.
• The Basin offers long-term storage deep in the
Glacial deposits
Limestone
Sandstone
Coal
Earth.
Shale
Authors: Sallie E. Greenberg, Robert J. Finley, and Edward Mehnert for the
Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium. Produced by the Illinois
State Geological Survey, William W. Shilts, Chief, 615 E. Peabody Dr.,
Champaign, IL 61820-6964 (217-244-2414; http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu).
www.sequestration.org
The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium is funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL) via the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Program
(contract number DE-FC26-05NT42588) and by a cost share agreement
with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity,
Office of Coal Development (contract number ICCI0303 DEV03 2RF).
• Side benefits may include enhanced recovery from
0
15
30
Miles
60
Kentucky
oil reservoirs and methane from coal seams.
Impervious sealing
rock (e.g. shale or
dense limestone)
Oil reservoir
6,000 ft
saline water reservoir
Dolomite
Precambrian
granite and rhyolite
Close-up of the pore space
between the sand grains.