A recent NETL analysis of the Central United States, which divided the region into three impact areas to explore variables associated with transporting and storing captured CO₂, found that geographic differences had significant impacts on costs and provided a framework to evaluate these impacts.

“While carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered a capable carbon management strategy, the geographical and geological impact of a region on source-to-sink integration is often overlooked when evaluating the technology,” said NETL’s Tim Grant. “The Central United States has an abundance of CO₂-generating sources that would likely require tailored approaches to provide low-cost CO₂ management. This analysis explored options a CO₂ source faces when selecting a low-cost transport and storage combination for its captured CO₂.”

In this research, each regional area provided the means to design a CCS network that could connect different source types at hypothetical locations with geologic storage reservoirs through either a dedicated pipeline connecting a single source to a single storage reservoir site or a trunkline network consisting of pipeline segments and hubs connecting multiple sources to multiple storage reservoir sites. The analysis resulted in the evaluation of more than 100 integrated source-to-sink matching scenarios. The results highlight the significance of the location and type of the CO₂ source, capture rate of a CO₂ source, quality of the saline storage reservoir, and distance between source and sink on overall costs.

“Overall, results indicated that each CCS cost component is significantly affected by a source’s location and sometimes a trunkline network does not provide the best option — for example, when the transport distance is less than 30 miles,” Grant said.

Specific outcomes from this analysis revealed that:

• Source location and the amount of emissions play a role in selection of storage site and transportation for low overall CCS costs.
• A trunkline network reduces costs for sources, especially for small sources, bringing distant, better quality storage sites within economic reach.
• Development of CCS networks will be at a regional scale.

NETL researchers also developed an informative poster to help express this research at the 2023 Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management/NETL Carbon Management Research Project Review Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A presentation is also available on this topic that was developed for the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage 2023 conference.

This research into the Central U.S. was based on a previous NETL analysis that focused on regions east of the Mississippi. A report summarizing this work, titled “Comparative Analysis of Transport and Storage Options from a CO₂ Source Perspective,” evaluated integrated CCS costs (capture, transport, and storage) from the perspective of a CO₂ source. This earlier work provided some of the methodology applied to the Central U.S. analysis.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.