West Virginia Carbon Sequestration Draft Report Issued

In 2009 the West Virginia Legislature passed HB 2860, the Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Act, located at W. Va. Code Chapter 22, Article 11A. The Act required creation of a task force to investigate the potential and problems associated with CO2 sequestration in West Virginia. Successful sequestration would have important ramifications for coal-generated power in West Virginia.

The Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Working Group issued its initial report on July 1, 2010. It is located here. Following is a short summary of the report, prepared by Anne Blankenship:

Based on the ten questions assigned to the group in the Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Act, the Working Group divided its Preliminary Report into three sections, each with a corresponding subcommittee: Feasibility, Geology & Technology, and Legal. Under the Act, the Group’s Final Report is due by July 1, 2011; the recommendations and conclusions in the Preliminary Report may change in the Final Report.

The Feasibility Subcommittee is responsible for four tasks identified in the Act: recommending appropriate methods of encouraging carbon capture and sequestration (CCS); assessing the economic and environmental feasibility of large, long-term CCS; recommending methods of facilitating the widespread use of CCS throughout the state; and assessing the costs, benefits, risks, and rewards of large-scale CCS projects in the state. The Subcommittee noted that CCS for coal plants is not commercially feasible at this time; based on this, the Subcommittee is considering a recommendation that the state pursue alternative sources of energy (natural gas, hydro, biomass, etc.) while simultaneously investing in and encouraging the development of CCS technology for coal-fired plants.

The Geology & Technology Subcommittee is tasked with identifying monitoring sites for geologic sequestration; assessing the feasibility of CO₂ sequestration in the state; and assessing the state’s potential CO₂ sequestration capacity. Based on rough early estimates, the state has enough storage capacity for between 47 and 147 years of CO₂ injection activity.

The Legal Subcommittee is charged with analyzing the legal, regulatory, and policy aspects of CCS, with a particular focus on the acquisition of underground pore space where injected CO₂ can go. In addition to other amendments to the Act, the Subcommittee recommended placing rock layers 2,500 or more feet below the surface into the public domain unless those layers are being used for the extraction or storage of gas, coal, or oil.