Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/6/2014
Between 14 and 17 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide could potentially be stored in southwestern Wyoming, according to results of a study sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) released this week. The study concluded that the Wyoming Rock Springs Uplift geologic feature has the “ideal geologic characteristics for carbon storage,” according to an NETL release. Beyond that, the location of the formation is ideal, located within close proximity to some of Wyoming’s largest CO2 emitters, the release said. The storage potential is equal to 250-300 years of CO2 emissions from the state’s coal-fired power plants and other large sources of anthropogenic CO2.
The research team, led by the University of Wyoming’s Carbon Management Institute, gathered geologic, hydrologic and geochemical date from a test well at the site. The team not only found great storage potential in the formation, which consists of two possible storage reservoirs, but a financial incentive, according to the release. The deep saline water of the Uplift contains high concentrations of lithium, which is used in batteries and other electronics. The research team estimates that for every 1 million metric tons of CO2 stored in the reservoirs, $1.6 million worth of lithium could be recovered from processed brine which could be used to offset CO2 storage costs, the release says.
