Test Begins in Russell County Which Will Help Secure the Future of Coal

Russell County, Virginia

This morning we are taking a large step to assure the long term future for coal both locally and across the nation.  Into this methane gas well, which extends downward into a coal seam, 1000 tons of carbon dioxide will be injected.  The goal of this test is to prove that unmineable coal seams will be a suitable media for sequestering carbon dioxide.

This is the largest and most prominent project launched in the central Appalachian region to evaluate coal seams as carbon dioxide storage repositories. 

Carbon dioxide controls are coming. There is now a broad scientific consensus that human activity is the primary cause of rising global temperatures and that unless controls are imposed, the problem will worsen with unacceptable consequences for the planet.  Majorities in both houses of the Congress now support the imposition of mandatory controls through a cap and trade program.  Both major party candidates for president also support those mandatory controls, and the Supreme Court has now held that carbon dioxide is a pollutant resulting in a legal mandate for the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide.  If Congress does not pass mandatory control legislation, the EPA will control emissions through regulation.  Most interested parties would prefer that Congress rather than the EPA perform the regulatory function, and for these reasons, it is now virtually certain that legislation will pass the Congress imposing controls during the coming four years.

When carbon dioxide controls are imposed, CO₂ from coal combustion must be captured and sequestered. Unmineable coal seams will be a major way that CO₂ is sequestered since there is a large capacity for coal seams to accommodate CO₂ across the nation and because coal seams are situated near to major users such as power plants and coke making ovens. Today we begin the process of demonstrating to the nation that coal seams can realize this potential.

This project is funded by the United States Department of Energy which is expending $4.4 million for the test we are launching this morning. Industrial partners have contributed another $1.1 million to the project.  The test will last from today until next January when test results are expected.

The next step after this test is concluded will be a large scale test which will inject 100,000 tons of CO₂ into a coal seam. That large scale test of 100,000 tons will occur in three phases and will be accompanied by a federal expenditure of $60 million from the United States Department of Energy and a $40 million match from the state and from private parties. Our goal is for Southwest Virginia to be the location of that $100 million large-scale test as well.

There are the three phases for a large-scale test:

 Phase 1 runs from 2008 through 2009 and consists of site selection and site characterization.  My office is now seeking $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund this first phase.

Phase 2 runs from 2009 through 2011 and consists of design of the project, engineering at the site and the legal work necessary to obtain permits and other permissions to conduct the injection.

Phase 3 runs from 2011 through 2017 and consists of the actual 100,000 ton injection, site monitoring for a number of years to determine that the carbon dioxide does not escape from the ground and finally closure of the site in the year 2017.

A number of benefits will arise for Southwest Virginia if we are successful in attracting the large-scale project:

1.  A research and development facility in the region will be needed in order to manage the large-scale test work, and I would note that the Tobacco Commission recently allocated a large sum of money for the construction of two new research and development centers for energy and the environment in our region.  It is anticipated that one or both of these new facilities will manage the large-scale test work.

2.  We also anticipate a major economic boost for the region through enhanced methane recovery when carbon dioxide is injected into unmineable coal seams. It is anticipated that an additional 650 billion cubic feet of natural gas could be recovered in our region through carbon dioxide injection. The value of that resource would be approximately $3.9 billion in enhanced methane production.

3.  The use of unminable coal seams for carbon dioxide sequestration in our region will improve our ability to attract other major investments in high carbon dioxide emitting industries such as plants to convert coal into a liquid fuel in order to create transportation fuels.  We also have the opportunity to attract additional coal-fired power plants and other similar projects.

4.  Our region would also enjoy the prestige that accompanies the contribution our region will make to solving one of our nation's most pressing energy challenges.

Realizing these goals begins with the test we are launching this morning.

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