Isra-Mart srl:EPA finalises US carbon sequestration rules

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has passed two rules that it hopes will make it easier for firms to safely commercialise carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The watchdog recently passed a rule dealing with regulation of drinking water near CCS sites, designed to ensure that the sequestration wells that will be used to store captured carbon dioxide underground are properly sited, built, tested and monitored to ensure they cannot pollute drinking water supplies.

Under the new rule, wells must also be decommissioned responsibly in line with specific EPA requirements.

The rule, created within the framework of the EPA's Underground Injection Control (UIC) initiative and under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act, focuses specifically on carbon sequestration as a unique process. It acknowledges the buoyancy of CO2, and its corrosiveness when mixed with water. It also focuses on the impurities in captured carbon dioxide, and its ability to move beneath the surface of the earth.

The drinking water rule also creates a new class of CCS injection well (class VI), designed to facilitate the transfer of CO2 for long-term storage rather than mere research.

"Ensuring that [geological sequestration] is performed in a manner that is protective of underground sources of drinking water (USDWs) supports the Administration's goal to facilitate the commercial development of safe, affordable, and broadly deployable... CCS technologies," said the EPA.

A second rule, focused on greenhouse gas reporting, will enable the EPA to collect data on the amount of gas that has been sequestered, the agency said.

It requires carbon sequestration facilities to report their underground injection, and also mandates reporting from other organisations injecting carbon dioxide into the ground for any reason, including oil and gas recovery.