Using Spent Texas Oil Fields For Carbon Dioxide / Greenhouse Gas Storage

It seems that a new use has been found for played out oil fields. The University of Texas recently pumped 1,600 tons of carbon dioxide into an underground oil cavity about 5000 feet below the surface. If this works, toms of greenhouse gasses can be stored in this manner and may help stave off global warming.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A short distance from Spindletop oil field, the site of the gusher that triggered the Texas oil rush more than a century ago, scientists have found a purpose for the long-disused underground reservoirs -- as storage for the pollution emitted by burning fossil fuels.

In the depleted South Liberty oil field near the town of Dayton, a University of Texas team successfully pumped 1,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide -- the principal greenhouse gas -- into the reservoirs of briny water more than 5,000 feet underground.

Scientists say those porous rock formations, which extend for hundreds of miles from Mexico to Alabama, could be ideally suited to storing the greenhouse gases widely blamed for global warming.
Texas

That's really interesting....

I remember years ago hearing about scientists searching for natural places where carbon could be stored in an attempt to lessen the amount in the atmosphere. Seem's they've begun utilizing it now..

I wonder how viable this is, though.

Eaahh, I really really hope they know what they are doing. Potentially many many things could go wrong. Question is there and towns or citys nearby?

I echo sardion's thoughts.
Is there any naturally occuring deposits of carbon dioxide? Will these stored deposits cause damage to the inner earth? Won't these gases leech out over time?

I found this link that explain how the carbon dioxide can be use for many other reasons.

Now it also shows the controversies of dumping it in the sea and also it shows that natural deposits of it has been around also.

www.hprcc.unl.edu...

Thanks, marg. That article gave me an idea.
I think I'll do my bit for corbon dioxide: Plants use carbond dioxide...duh....and give off oxygen. I forgot that from high school. So, maybe I'll make my garden twice as big next year.

btw, marg...no avatar?!?!?

A lot of the fast-growing plants are good at CO2 uptake. A good example is the cottonwood tree, which grows like the dickens but has a lot of disadvantates (pollen causes allergies, wood is weak and trees don't live long.) Cottonwoods are good "volunteer" trees; they'll grow in almost anything.

although I applad the the idea and the atempt. I cant help but think it will only make s scrtach in the big problem, which is useing the fossel fuels and poluteing the air. Yes I am being synical, but that is also how feel.

There has been at least one entire field reserved for CO2 sequestration. Fears are fairly unfounded when you take the following considerations into account:

1. The oil industry has been pumping CO2 into wells for decades now. This is called a "gas assist". You have an injection well drilled to the side of a producing well and you pump the CO2 down the injection well to drive the oil in the reservoir toward the producing well. This is done to improve production on wells that have produced for some time and have been "drawn down" (i.e. the reservoir pressure is not sufficient to maintain production of oil up the wellbore).

So all you are talking about doing now is pumping the CO2 for the intention of leaving it. Also, when you take into account that the previous CO2 gas assists jobs have required that CO2 be made (manufactured), by replacing the manufactured CO2 with a CO2 capturing facility, then you draw the CO2 out of the atmosphere instead of producing more - DOUBLE GOOD-DAY!

2. Oil and gas reservoirs are capped by impermeable barriers such as shale layers or salt domes. If they weren't capped, they would bubble to the surface and we wouldn't be drilling 10,000 ft wells, now would we? That same impermeable cap that prevents oil and gas from making it to the top will prevent the CO2 from coming to the top. This is not arguable, as it's working now and has for eons...no reason it won't work in the future.



[edit on 11-28-2004 by Valhall]

Valhall I agree that it can work, I'm just worrying that we might put too much in and build up too much pressure and kaboom! or somthing to that extent since C02 doesn't combust. And how much power will it take to pump the stuff down there too? That has to be taken into consideration and compensated for.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I echo sardion's thoughts.
Is there any naturally occuring deposits of carbon dioxide? Will these stored deposits cause damage to the inner earth? Won't these gases leech out over time?

I may be off, but I thought that limestone was composed of carbon, perhaps all that heat and pressure will cause and increase in limestone formation?

I just found this in a norwegian article, and posted it in my own thread, which is about to be closed... (Heres a copy)

The US inject CO2 into the earth

www.tu.no...

The issue in this norwegian article, is about
The US Government versus The Kyotoprotocoll of 2001.

Since The US didn't ratify the agreement along with the majority of the world, they had to come up with something else to prevent pollution.
Well, they figured out, since the oil has been sucked out of the ground, they can instead fill it with carbongases.

Sure thing.

In the dry oilfield in Dayton, Texas, scientists at the UoT has injected 1600 tons of CO2. The gas is binding to groundwater at 1500m deep.
Research so far shows that the southern parts of the US alone can store 300mrd tons of CO2.

Im no biologist. I wonder if this would work, that is, that the ground would actually make these gases being sucked up into the ground, and over time becoming something useful for the ground. As far as I know, we need chlorosynthesis-something to make good breathable air of it.
-Would this not just choke the ground?

What a great idea!!

Instead of actually doing something about the problem, we just brush it under the carpet! Hey presto... no more problem!

Errr... how about signing up to the Kyoto agreement, outlaw the burning of fossil fuels and start hugging trees and making apologies to them? That would be a start.

Co2 mixing with H2o amkes... acid... CH2O3? Something like that anyway... ahhh... hang on a quick google has revealed this : carbonic acid is H2CO3\

So you are tuning the water into acid... nice thirst quencher.

Originally posted by Corinthas
Co2 mixing with H2o amkes... acid... CH2O3? Something like that anyway... ahhh... hang on a quick google has revealed this : carbonic acid is H2CO3\

So you are tuning the water into acid... nice thirst quencher.

Well then. Then it wasn't so bad that they did this in Dubyah's own homegarden.