Demand for low-carbon energy sources is growing and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is becoming widely accepted as a viable and necessary option for fossil-based energy sources, such as coal- or gas-fired power plants and other industrial sources to lower their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Significant advancements have been made in CCUS technologies in recent years. Much of this experience is based on laboratory, pilot, and large-scale field projects that have validated key concepts and technologies.
In order to achieve wide adoption of CCUS, it is now imperative that we build upon these learnings to test, mature and prove CCUS technologies at commercial-scale.
For CarbonSAFE, storage complexes should be characterized to ensure they are capable of safely and efficiently storing a minimum of 50 million metric tons of CO2 within a 30 year period. For the purposes of this FOA, a storage complex consists of: (1) one or more storage reservoirs, with permeability and porosity that allow injection and storage of CO2; and (2) one or more low-permeability seals, which enclose the reservoir(s) and serve as barriers to migration of CO2 out of the reservoir. Project sites include both the surface footprint and subsurface storage complex over the entire volume of subsurface impacted by the injection. Project site(s) could potentially need to be monitored for several decades throughout the project’s injection and post-injection time frames.
There is an R&D need for understanding how to safely, efficiently and cost-effectively characterize and permit project site(s) within a greater storage complex at the commercial-scale throughout the US. The CarbonSAFE Initiative was launched in 2016 to fulfill this need.
The overall objective of this FOA is to accelerate wide-scale deployment of CCUS by assessing and verifying safe and cost-effective commercial-scale storage sites for anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and assessing the technical and economic viability of carbon capture and/or purification technologies for sources that will supply CO2 to storage sites.
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2020
Eligibility to apply to this FOA is not limited to projects awarded under DE-FOA-0001584 or DE-FOA-0001450. However, all applicants must provide evidence of a well-developed storage complex feasibility evaluation supporting high potential for commercial storage, as well as evidence of a suitable CO2 source(s) that will utilize the storage. Appendix G – Criteria to Determine the Integrated Project State of Development, provides guidance on the information that must be submitted with the application to this FOA such that a determination can be made by DOE of the proposed project’s level of readiness
