Carbon Capture and
Geologic Sequestration in Utah
Legislation
Senate Bill 202 Energy Resource and Carbon Emission Reduction Initiative was signed into law on March 18, 2008 by Governor Huntsman. This bill enacted the Municipal Electric Utility Carbon Emission Reduction Act Title 10 Chapter 19. It also enacted and amended parts of the Energy Resource Procurement Act Title 54 Chapter 17 including 54-17-701 Rules for Carbon Capture and Geologic Storage.
Farnham Dome Pilot CO2 Sequestration Project
As part of a comprehensive effort to assess options for sustainable energy systems, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected seven Regional Partnerships, through its Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Program, to determine the best approaches for capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide (CO2).
The Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP) includes the states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. The SWP includes over 50 organizations. The eight states in the SWP account for about 10 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions from stationary sources.
SWP will accomplish a major sequestration deployment in the Farnham Dome in central Utah. This test will follow an injection schedule over 4 years, leading up to 900,000 tonnes (1 million U.S. tons) of CO2 per year. The target formations for this deployment include deep Jurassic-, Triassic-, and Permian-aged sandstones in the Farnham Dome of Utah. These formations are also targets of potential commercial sequestration throughout the western United States.
The SWP plans include a “dual completion” with injection in two different formations at the same time. By carrying out two tests in two different formations within the same stratigraphy, portability of science and engineering results can begin to be evaluated.
- Read a Fact Sheet on the Farnham Dome Deep Saline Sequestration Project
- Read a Summary of the Farnham Dome Field Test Site and Operations (
) - View a Poster of the Farnham Dome Phase III Deployment ( 2.37 MB,
) - View a data movie for the Farnham Dome Pilot CO2 Project Model
Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center
The Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center (AGRC) maintains an interactive map for the Southwest Partnership on Carbon Sequestration
Utah Geological Survey
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) received funding from the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for a project titled “Reactive, Multi-phase Behavior of CO2 in Saline Aquifers beneath the Colorado Plateau” for a three-year period beginning August 13, 2000. The UGS serves as a subcontractor to the Southwest Partnership.
Documents for Review
- Alberta C02 Pipeline
- EPA Proposed Rule with Five States Comments
- Guidelines for C02 Capture, Transport and Storage
- GWPC Primacy Resolution
- Issues Specifically Identified by EPA in the Preamble on Which the Agency is Seeking Comment
- Storing Carbon: Options for Liability Risk Management, Financial Responsibility
Revised: November 9, 2009
