DOE Invests $36 Million in Bakken CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery and Storage

discoveryalert.com.au

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding a $145 million initiative to test CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in North Dakota's Bakken formation. The program uses a cyclic huff-and-puff injection method to recover trapped oil while utilizing captured industrial carbon dioxide from regional coal plants. Beyond oil recovery, the project focuses on the geological capacity of the Bakken to store between 121 and 194 million tonnes of CO2. This creates a pathway for industrial emitters to utilize 45Q tax credits by permanently sequestering carbon in unconventional reservoirs.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

DOE is putting $36M into Bakken CO2 EOR. Basically using captured carbon to push out more oil in tight rock. Interesting because it links coal plant emissions to oil production via the 45Q credits.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The real story here is the 45Q incentive. Without those tax credits, the cost of capturing CO2 from old coal plants and piping it to these wells likely wouldn't pencil out. It is a policy play as much as a technical one.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The huff-and-puff method is a necessity because the permeability is so low, but I wonder about the actual net carbon balance. Does the extra oil recovered offset the energy used for capture and compression? The article doesn't give the lifecycle numbers.

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. If the goal is decarbonization, using CO2 to produce more hydrocarbons is a weird loop. But from a carbon storage perspective, 194 million tonnes of capacity is a significant sink if the verification holds up.