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The San Juan Basin is considered one of the best areas in the world for geologic sequestration because its coal formations are highly permeable, it has a ready source of CO2 from nearby power plants and a pipeline system already exists, reducing capital and operating costs.

But while the project will sequester one greenhouse gas, it will also emit another. Injecting CO2 into the formation will produce methane, a form of natural gas. Pound for pound, methane is 25 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Some scientists believe that making big strides in methane reduction could buy time to deal with the trickier problem of reducing carbon dioxide (ClimateWire, April 30).

David Borns, manager of geotechnology and engineering at DOE's Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., said the partners of the project -- which also include DOE's Sandia labs, the Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico universities and industry -- hope to demonstrate that geologic sequestration can be part of the solution to global warming, at least while the nation shifts its energy portfolio toward more renewable sources.

"It actually lowers the amount of carbon in the atmosphere," Borns said. "Even if we stop emissions today, there's enough inertia to keep emissions rising for the next 50 years. So you have to do something now."

Stephen Saunders, president of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, which is not a partner in the project, agreed.

"It could play a significant role in keeping CO2 from going up into the atmosphere and changing our climate," he said.

The lab is also testing the viability of using produced water from coalbed methane production to help restore native vegetation on degraded rangelands and on well pads. And since plants absorb CO2, increasing vegetation in the area would further offset emissions through terrestrial sequestration.

'Complications and uncertainties'

The pilot project, which is part of the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration, will do little to reduce the area's greenhouse gas emissions. The two nearest coal-fired power plants emit 15 million tons of CO2 each year, and coalbed methane drilling contributes a significant amount of global warming pollution as well. But the project will help demonstrate the potential of the technology, supporters say.

"There are two questions to answer," said John Whitehead, operations manager for ConocoPhillips' San Juan office, which is operating the sequestration well. "Can we actually inject CO2 here and will it increase the recovery of methane? We're optimistic that it'll have a positive impact, but at this point, we don't know yet."

Beyond the viability of the technology itself, questions remain regarding who would own the CO2 when it is transferred from one place to another, the impact of building new pipelines to transport it, and other factors, Saunders added.

"There are complications and uncertainties, just because the regulatory system isn't set up to be doing this yet," Saunders said. "But I think there's widespread interest across the West to see what could be done."

Other test sites established by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration are in Utah's Paradox Basin and Texas' Permian Basin. Supporters are hoping that if the pilot projects are successful, sequestration can help lower airborne carbon levels in the Southwest, where coal-fired power plants account for half of the region's fossil fuel emissions. The 10 largest coal-fired power plants contribute 140 million tons of carbon emissions each year, according to DOE.

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