%0 Report %D 2011 %T Carbon Sequestration: Developing an assessment of potential CO2 storage resources in Massachusetts - Final Report: Estimate of CO2 Storage Resource Potential in Massachusetts Saline Aquifers and Unmineable Coal Seams %A Stephen B Mabee %A David F Boutt %A Petsch, Steven T %K #MGSPub %K #MGSPubs %K #Report %K #Reports %K Carbon %K climate change %K CO2 %K coal %K coal seams %K Hartford Basin %K injection %K Narragansett Basin %K sequestration %X Geologic carbon sequestration, defined as the permanent storage of CO2 in underground geologic reservoirs, is emerging as an important strategy towards mitigation of increasing accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and associated greenhouse gas warming and climate change. These efforts have been organized nationally through programs such as the U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Fossil Energy – National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) – Carbon Sequestration Program and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – Energy Resources Program – Health and Environment Section – Geologic CO2 Sequestration Research initiative. These organizations have partnered with a network of regional participants to evaluate CO2 storage resource potentials in geologic formations throughout the United States and Canada, through the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships program. To date, however, CO2 storage resource potentials for geologic formations in Massachusetts have not been incorporated into any national or regional carbon sequestration initiative, nor have resources for local geologic carbon storage in Massachusetts been estimated or calculated. During a preliminary investigation into geologic carbon sequestration potential in Massachusetts, researchers at the University of Massachusetts identified five potential candidate geologic formations for further study. These include: sandstone aquifers in the Connecticut River Valley, unmineable coal seams in southeastern Massachusetts, organic-rich shales in the Connecticut River Valley, basalts in the Connecticut River Valley, and organic-rich metamorphic rocks in the western Berkshire Hills. Through sponsorship from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a project was developed to gain more information about these candidate formations related to their hydrogeologic characteristics and potential carbon storage resource. This information has been used to assess if some or all of these candidates meet screening criteria for geologic carbon storage and to provide data for volumetric carbon storage models as outlined by methodologies developed by the USGS and NETL. This research also has identified gaps in knowledge and information regarding key hydrogeologic characteristics for the candidate formations in Massachusetts. These data are required to determine if formations meet screening criteria and to estimate total storage resources. Prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center under Task Order 09-1 %I Massachusetts Geological Survey %C Amherst, MA %P 62 %8 5/2011 %G eng %U http://www.geo.umass.edu/stategeologist/Products/reports/CarbonSequestrationReport.pdf %0 Report %D 2011 %T Experiments Summarizing the Potential of CO2 Sequestration in the Basalts of Massachusetts – Final Report %A Petrick, Carrie %A Stephen B Mabee %K #MGSPub %K #MGSPubs %K #Reports %K basalts %K Carbon %K carbonate %K climate change %K CO2 %K Holyoke Basalt %K injection %K mineralization %K precipitation %K sequestration %X Basalts are gaining more attention as reservoirs for the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). The purpose of this report is to present the results of experiments that were conducted on the basalts in western Massachusetts and Connecticut to determine their potential to sequester CO2. There were two primary objectives of these experiments:
  • To recreate and validate prior carbonate mineralization experiments conducted on the Holyoke basalt by Schaef et al. (2009) from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) and to test if their results are reproducible and geographically consistent within western Massachusetts and Connecticut, and,
  • 2. To explore the possibility of reacting CO2 with basalt at the earth’s surface in an ex-situ mineral reactor and, in particular, to identify the optimum conditions necessary to precipitate large amounts of carbonate at the surface in a short time period by varying pressure, temperature, water volume, mass of sample and grain size in the experiments.
  • Prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center %I Massachusetts Geological Survey %C Amherst, MA %P 103 %8 10/2011 %G eng %U http://www.geo.umass.edu/stategeologist/Products/reports/BasaltSequestrationReport.pdf