Aust project details:
# Monash/Latrobe Valley: Paleogene-Eocene Latrobe group fluvial/deltaic sandstones
# Gorgon: Jurassic Dupuy Fm. deep-water sandstones.
Other potential test projects:
North America:
# Illinois/ORV: Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone.
# GOM: Miocene Frio or Vicksburg Fms.; other Neogene shelf sands.
# Rocky Mts: Mississippian Madison shelf carbonates or Pennsylvanian Tensleep/Weber eolian sandstones.
# Alberta: Deep-water Triassic Viking Fm. Or Devonian/Mississippian reef complexes.
Europe:
# UK: DF1/Miller: Jurassic Miller Fm. deep-water sandstone.
# Netherlands: K12B: Permian Rotliegende eolian sandstone.
China and India:
# China: Bohai: Eocene-Miocene Shahejie – Guantao fluvial-lacustrine sandstones.
# China: Sichuan: Triassic Jialingjiang Fm., shelf carbonates.
# India: Ganga: Eocene-Miocene Murree – Siwalik Fms. fluvial sandstones
Huge return on investment claimed: The study says the value of information derived from large scale injection studies relative to their cost would be "enormous".
US capacity questions would be largely answered: For the three projects suggested above in the US, the price tag would range between $300 -700 million over eight years. Five large tests could be planned and executed for less than $1 billion, and address the chief concerns for roughly 70 per cent of potential US capacity.
Basis for regulatory decision making: The study continues: "Information from these projects would validate the commercial scalability of geological carbon storage and provide a basis for regulatory, legal, and financial decisions needed to ensure safe, reliable, economic sequestration."
Aid for developing nations? It adds that on a global basis, the case for OECD countries to help developing nations test their most important storage sites is strong, though mechanisms remain unresolved and are likely to vary case to case.
Reference: The scientific case for large CO2 storage projects worldwide: Where they should go, what they should look like, and how much they should cost, by S. Julio Friedmann, Carbon Management Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-640, 7000 East St., Livermore, California, U.S.A. 94550. Corresponding author: friedmann2@llnl.gov