Project to store excess carbon dioxide at ADM nearly complete

DECATUR, Apr 07, 2009 (Herald & Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ADM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Drilling of an injection well for a first-of-its-kind $84.3 million project to store carbon dioxide deep beneath the campus of Archer Daniels Midland Co. is nearly complete.

Local, state and national officials received an up-close look Monday at the progress of drilling during site tours on an unseasonably cold, windy day.

The well will be used to inject up to 1 million metric tons of excess carbon dioxide converted into liquid form from ADM's ethanol plant to be stored some 7,500 feet beneath the surface. Drilling, which started Feb. 14, is expected to take another several weeks, followed by six to eight months of monitoring.

"It's a little rough sometimes, but everything goes 24/7," said Robert Finley, Illinois Geological Survey director. The Champaign-based organization is the leader of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium consisting of groups partnering on the project.

"We often have to be out here 24 to 36 hours at a time, collecting information," Finley said. "It's too expensive to do otherwise."

Injecting carbon dioxide could begin in February 2010 and would take three years to complete. It is designed to test the Mount Simon Sandstone, a saline water-bearing rock formation that has increased in public awareness because of plans to build the stalled FutureGen plant in Mattoon. The formation runs below most of Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana and part of Ohio.

Much of the research is going as predicted, Finley said. The well has reached a depth of about 5,300 feet, with more than 2,000 more feet to go.

"Depth predictions have been within 100 feet, which we think is very good," Finley said. "There's always a risk it doesn't happen. It's very gratifying to have it come in as predicted."

Researchers based plans for the project on what they knew about the area, which could be 17 miles away, said Sallie Greenberg, sequestration communications coordinator for the geological survey.

"We learned a lot about the site while drilling the well itself," Greenberg said. "Each new hole gives us a whole lot more information that we can use to further our understanding."

The project, one of seven backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a collaborative effort between the federal government and private backers, including ADM. The energy department committed $66.7 million to the project, with the rest coming from other partners, said Greg Webb, ADM vice president of public affairs.

"If this is a technology that can be affirmed and proved and then developed to a commercial scale, then you could see lots of projects like this that could spring up around the country," Webb said.

Webb said it's been important for the research to move forward, even as other projects are feeling the effects of the recession.

"If we always wait for things to be rosy, I'm not sure that we're going to have this ideal all the time," Webb said. "Research is something that I think is little-appreciated but much-needed. That interest doesn't have many bounds as far as whether the economy is good or bad. If it's a solution we need to try to understand, then it's the right thing for us to do."

Researchers are trying to find solutions to curb the negative effects of greenhouse emissions, especially by a major business like ADM. The cost of waiting to find out how to reduce the effects of fossil fuels would be too high, Finley said.

"The cost could be greater later on," Finley said. "If by 2050 the climate here in Illinois turns too warm for growing some of the agri-products that we grow now, that's going to be a detriment to a great many people."

Extensive monitoring systems have also been set up to make sure no harmful environmental effects of the project are felt in Decatur from carbon dioxide leaking into the ground. Work being done ensures it is highly unlikely carbon dioxide injected ever reaches the surface, Greenberg said. Several layers of ground separate and seal the layer where the carbon dioxide will be injected from groundwater, Greenberg said.

"We want to make absolutely sure there is no change to the groundwater," Finley said.

Research on the project is expected to last through 2015.

PROJECTTIMELINE

-2003: Research begins as the U.S. Department of Energy establishes seven regional sequestration partnerships, including the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium.

-2007: The consortium is awarded $66.7 million to carry out its study.

-2008: A partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Co. is announced. Carbon dioxide emitted from ADM's ethanol plant would be injected underground for storage after being converted into a liquid form. Site construction begins during the summer.

-2009: Drilling of the injection well began on Feb. 14. Drilling is expected to last another several weeks before six to eight months of extensive monitoring begins. A pipeline connecting the well with the ethanol plant is expected to be constructed.

-2010: Carbon dioxide injection and monitoring is expected to begin early in the spring. Carbon dioxide will be injected at a rate of 1,000 metric tons per day.

-2013: The injection process is expected to be completed. By the end of the project, 1 million metric tons of CO2 will have been injected into the ground.

clusvardi@herald-review.com|421-7972

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