The Department of Geology and the Kansas Geological Survey received a $5 million grant — the largest grant KGS has ever received — to study the possibility of storing carbon dioxide underground.

The department has the opportunity to play a major role in helping harness CO2, one of the greatest contributors to the greenhouse effect. The high amounts of CO2 released from fuel exhaust and the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal are examples of the biggest players involved with global warming, Lynn Watney said.

“Receiving the grant was based on the need to start considering what to do about Greenhouse gases and global warming,” Watney, the principal investigator for the study, said.

The U.S. has the second highest rate of CO2 emissions released from human activities behind China, according to the Environmental Protection Agency Web site and the CIA World Factbook. In the U.S., there were around 6 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2007, and in Kansas contributed around 79 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

The department applied for the grant in August, according to Bob Goldstein, distinguished professor and co-principal investigator for the study. About two months later, the U.S. Department of Energy signed on to the stimulus grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. After planning budgets and getting outside companies on board, the date for the study to begin is set for Dec. 1.

“We have the opportunity to do research that we have been wanting to do for years,” Goldstein said. “We’re all very excited about the experience.”

The research site for studying the process of geologic CO2 sequestration is Wellingon Oil and gas field in Sumner County.

The stimulus grant is to be used within a three-year period. Goldstein said this would allow the study to begin quickly and would ensure that the money from the grant would be promptly put back into the economy after being spent on the resources needed to complete the research.

“Receiving this grant enhances the school’s reputation in the geological community,” Rex Buchanan, associate specialist for KGS, said. “This makes it clear that Kansas has the capabilities and expertise to make a difference in the field.”

The study will attempt to not only determine the likelihood of sequestering or trapping CO2 in depleted oil and gas fields, but also the possibility of using CO2 to force trapped oil from fields that are no longer economically capable of harvesting oil and gas. Some of the CO2 will be pumped into the depleted oil field, which will saturate and dissolve into oil then push it to the surface also making it easier to move. Another storage site will be deep underground in a rock unit composed of dolomite, an old sedimentary, porous rock, called Arbuckle Group. CO2 will dissolve into the salty water that naturally exists in the pores.

“We need to evaluate the risk involved and ensure that it can be done in a safe way,” Watney said.

Drilling, coring and seismic imaging, which uses sound waves to create an image of the subsurface, are some of the methods that will be used to determine whether the field and the underlying water supply are capable of storing CO2 permanently and safely, Watney explained.

“The goal is to be able to store commercial size amounts of carbon dioxide,” Watney said. “There’s even a possibility of attracting the construction of a pipeline if our findings are successful.”

The study will provide the information needed to make a decision on the next steps to take in dealing with greenhouse gases and the preservation of the environment, Buchanan said.

Along with Goldstein, two other University personnel from the department of geology will serve as co-principal investigators: Evan Franseen, professor and senior scientist, and David Fowle, associate professor.

“This is the start of something fairly major,” Goldstein said. “It’s exciting to work closely with colleagues on such a heavy duty research project. The opportunity is amazing, for students and for us professors.”

In 2008, Kansas produced around 40 million barrels of oil, according to the KGS website, www.kgs.ku.edu. Sumner County, where the research site Wellington field is located, produced 451,639 barrels of oil last year, while 45,585 barrels were produced in Douglas County.

“There’s a good sense of where storing CO2 could be possible,” Buchanan said. “Wellington field is a prime candidate because of its geology, the characteristics of the underlying rocks could be the sub-surface needed to capture and keep potentially harmful Greenhouse gases.”

— Edited by Alicia Banister