Technology Deployment Issues

To facilitate the progression of carbon sequestration from regional characterization to pilot-scale testing to commercial introduction, WESTCARB is working to identify and help resolve a host of legal, carbon “accounting,” and storage site monitoring issues that must be addressed before sequestration technology can be widely applied.

This is not a simple task. Regulations and permitting requirements, for example, vary from state to state, and sometimes there is uncertainty over which regulations might apply to specific types of sequestration projects. To help reduce such uncertainty, WESTCARB has assembled lists of potentially applicable regulations on a state-by-state basis. Other organizations, such as the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, have also investigated available regulatory frameworks, and have offered recommendations.

WESTCARB has also established a framework for assessing the health and environmental risks associated with geologic sequestration, as such information will be needed to guide site selection, management procedures, and possibly the permitting process.

In addition, WESTCARB is refining models that predict absorption of injected CO₂ by porous geologic formations; it is also planning to field-test a suite of monitoring techniques to verify CO₂ location within target geologic formations. The approaches to modeling, measurement, and verification will draw upon the field experience of oil and gas companies in monitoring reservoir gases and in using CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery, as well as on results from other pilot CO₂ storage projects.