What every Hoosier needs to know about underground carbon sequestration.
Underground carbon sequestration (UCCS) is a technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plants and other industrial sources and injects it deep underground into geological formations. The goal of UCCS is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.
However, UCCS also poses a number of risks. One of the biggest concerns is that CO2 could leak out of the underground reservoirs and contaminate nearby water supplies. Injection of CO2 could cause induced seismicity, leading to earthquakes.
In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile cases of CO2 leakage from underground UCCS projects. For example, in 2016, a study found that CO2 was leaking from a UCCS project in Norway at a rate of 1,000 tonnes per year. And in 2017, a report found that CO2 was leaking from a UCCS project in Australia at a rate of 2,000 tonnes per year. Leaks from pipelines at the surface or from the well heads post fatal risks to human and animal life in the vicinity, as highly concentrated CO2 can overpower respiration rapidly.
The risks of UCCS are not limited to the environment. There is also the risk that UCCS could be used to prolong the use of fossil fuels. For example, some companies are proposing to use UCCS to capture CO2 from power plants and then use it to produce synthetic fuels. However, these synthetic fuels would still contribute to climate change if they were burned.
In Indiana, Wabash Carbon Services plans to inject 1.67 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year into wells over a period of 12 years through two wells in Vermillion and Vigo Counties. To do this they have sought Class IV permits from the Environmental Protection Agency, which the agency is preparing to issue following a public comment period. We opposed this project when it arrived at the Indiana General Assembly, where many farmers spoke against it as well. While some of the property rights issues were resolved in the legislature, the concerns for the environmental impact of this project remain. Although Wabash Carbon Services has planned to install testing wells to monitor ground water and to track the flow path (plume) of CO2 underground, should the unexpected occur, it would be too late to undo any initial damages caused by the already injected CO2.
Ultimately, UCCS is not a scalable solution. There are not enough ideally-suited underground reservoirs to store all of the CO2 that is emitted from human activities. We should not ignore that the staggering cost of capturing the emissions from carbon-intensive processes is prohibitive for many industries as it uses valuable energy and requires significant changes to infrastructure. The pipelines that would have to be constructed to move liquid CO2 to injection sites will also add to this enormous investment, through building costs and land acquisition, to maintenance and insurance. These investments could be best spent reducing emissions in the first place, improving efficiency, and innovation in better industrial practices.
EPA will host a public meeting and hearing on Thursday, August 10. EPA staff will be available to answer resident questions and record comments. EPA’s public comment period will end on August 11, 2023. Comments may be submitted in person at the public hearing or by email to fisher.marc@epa.gov
When: Thursday, August 10, 2023
Time: Meeting will begin at 6 p.m., hearing will occur from 7:30 to 9
Where: Indiana State University
Federal Hall, Smith Magna Carta Courtroom, Second Floor
30 North 7th Street
Terre Haute, Indiana