The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has announced up to $9 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001829, Developing Technologies for Advancement of Associated Geologic Storage in Basinal Geo-Laboratories.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects. These projects will address technical research needs and key challenges in advancing associated storage within DOE’s Carbon Storage program. Projects will advance technologies—through computational, analytical, bench-scale, and field laboratory studies—in storage complexes in diverse geologic settings.

Associated geologic storage refers to the storage of carbon dioxide along with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and/or enhanced gas recovery operations. It also includes saline storage where a project in a storage complex involves stacked saline and oil/gas reservoirs. Carbon dioxide storage, in association with EOR, offers a means to help offset capture, transportation, and storage costs—thereby accelerating the implementation of geologic storage.

A new, potentially large opportunity for geologic storage is associated with residual oil zones and tight oil formations. This FOA focuses on research and development that is specific to various basins representing diverse geologic settings throughout the United States (e.g., Appalachian, Williston, Illinois, Michigan, Permian, and Gulf Coast Region) where there are opportunities for associated storage.

The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the risk and cost of advanced fossil energy technologies and further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the Office of Fossil Energy website or sign up for FE news announcements.