EPA grants CO2 funding to University of Illinois

DECATUR, ILLINOIS - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it has awarded an $897,225 grant to the University of Illinois for a three-year research project to find out the impact of injecting CO2 from a source such as a coal-fired electric generating power plant into Illinois' deep underground water reservoirs for long-term storage.

Researchers will use fieldwork and modeling to determine the effects of CO2 sequestration on groundwater aquifers, EPA said. "The plan is to see whether CO2 injection could cause changes in reservoir pressure and possibly result in salt water migrating from deeper ground water and contaminating fresh water near the surface," EPA said.

Although underground injection of CO2 for such things as enhanced oil and gas recovery has been going on for years, CO2 injection specifically for geologic sequestration involves different technical issues and potentially larger volumes of CO2 than in the past, EPA noted.

EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act established the Underground Injection Control program to allow the safe injection of fluids into the subsurface in a manner that does not endanger current or future underground sources of drinking water. EPA said it recently proposed new rules to ensure there is a consistent and effective permit system under the SDWA for commercial-scale geologic sequestration.

EPA said it is working with the U.S. Department of Energy as it carries out its carbon sequestration research and development program and is coordinating efforts to evaluate potential impacts on health, safety and the environment.

Exploration of CO2 injection possibilities in Illinois is already under way. DOE announced in April the near completion of drilling of a CO2 injection test well being done by Archer Daniels Midland Co. and project partners in Decatur, Ill.

Related News

ontario electrical transmission

National Steel Car appealing decision in legal challenge of Ontario electricity fee it calls an unconstitutional tax

TORONTO - A manufacturer of steel rail cars is pursuing an appeal after its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a major Ontario electricity fee was struck down earlier this year.

Lawyers for Hamilton, Ont.-based National Steel Car Ltd. filed a notice of appeal in July after Ontario Superior Court Justice Wendy Matheson ruled in June that an electricity fee, known as the global adjustment, was a regulatory charge, and not an unconstitutional tax used to finance policy goals, as National Steel Car alleges.

The company, the decision noted, began its legal crusade last year after seeing its electricity bills had “increased dramatically”…

READ MORE
japan boimass plant

Japan to host one of world's largest biomass power plants

READ MORE

commercial electricity meter

B.C. Commercial electricity consumption plummets during COVID-19 pandemic

READ MORE

use-ai-for-energy-savings

Medicine Hat Grant Winners to Upgrade Grid and Use AI for Energy Savings

READ MORE

beetle electric vehicle

Crowds plug into electric vehicle event in Regina

READ MORE