Subject: ＥＥＥ会議（Re:米国の温暖化対策：CO2を出さない石炭火力発電所計画）
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 10:54:59 +0900
From: "kkaneko" <kkaneko@eagle.ocn.ne.jp>

各位殿

米国政府が２月末に発表した「ＦｕｔｕｒｅＧｅｎ計画」（二酸化炭素などを全量回
収し固体にして地下に貯蔵するような画期的な石炭火力発電所の建設計画）について
は、先日（３月１日）EEE会議でご紹介しました。その後同計画がどのように進行し
ているか気になっていましたところ、米国エネルギー省は３月２５日、次のような経
過報告を発表をしました。

そもそも、この計画については、それは京都議定書を拒否した米国が同議定書の代替
策として意図的にオーバーに宣伝しているもので、その成否は眉唾ものだという批判
がある反面、もし同計画が首尾よく行けば、石炭の役割が抜本的に見直され、温暖化
防止のみならず、世界のエネルギー安全保障上も大きなプラス（原子力にとってはマ
イナス？）になると予想されます。　残念ながら小生はこの方面の知識が乏しいの
で、どなたか下記の発表やその他関連情報を基に、この計画の意義等について簡単に
解説していただけないでしょうか？
金子熊夫
************************************************

Text: U.S. Scientists Store Heat-Trapping Carbon Gases Under Ground

(Project complements sequestration field test under way in Canada)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has begun the first major field
experiment in the United States to test whether underground geologic
formations can be used to store heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions,
isolating them permanently from the atmosphere.

According to a March 21 press release, over the last year researchers
injected approximately 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide -- a potent greenhouse
gas -- into a depleted oil reservoir of the Strata Production Company near
Hobbs, New Mexico. The quantity of carbon dioxide injected in the New
Mexico project is comparable to a single day of emissions from an average
coal-fired power plant.

The researchers will now monitor the injected carbon dioxide plume as it
"soaks" into the reservoir rock over the next 60 to 90 days. They will
continue to monitor any changes in the mineralization of the rock for the
next year. Scientists do not have good field data on how long the carbon
dioxide is likely to remain in the reservoir or what physical or chemical
changes might occur in the reservoir rock.

The New Mexico project complements a larger sequestration field test under
way at the Weyburn oil field in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, where
DOE is joining more than 15 government agencies, universities and research
institutions from around the world to monitor the capacity, movement and
fate of carbon dioxide injected into a producing oil reservoir.

Carbon sequestration is a rapidly advancing area of study that has been
singled out by President Bush as one of the most promising approaches for
reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Information on DOE's Sequestration R&D Program can be found at the
following Web site:
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/coal_power/sequestration/index.shtml

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Energy
March 21, 2003

First Geologic Sequestration Field Test In U.S. Underway in New Mexico
CO2 Currently "Soaking" in Depleted Oil Reservoir

Hobbs, NM - Could depleted oil fields offer sites for "sequestering"
greenhouse gas emissions? A field test in Hobbs, NM, co-sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Energy, could give scientists their first "real-life"
indication of whether this approach can be a future option in President
Bush's Global Climate Change Initiative.

The project is the first major field experiment in the United States to
test whether underground geologic formations might be used in the future
to entrap carbon gases and isolate them permanently from the atmosphere.

Between December 20, 2002 and February 10, 2003, researchers injected
approximately 2,100 tons of CO2 into Strata Production Company's West
Pearl Queen reservoir near Hobbs. The quantity of CO2 injected in the New
Mexico project is comparable to a single day of emissions from an average
coal-fired power plant.

Now, researchers are monitoring the CO2 plume as it "soaks" into the
reservoir rock. The objective is to determine whether the gases are likely
to stay within the formation. This field experiment puts to the test what
others have only studied in the laboratory.

Oil and gas reservoirs are thought to be promising targets for CO2
sequestration for several reasons.

First, oil and gas that originally accumulated in these reservoirs did not
escape over geological time. Thus the reservoirs should also contain CO2,
as long as pathways to the surface or to adjacent formations are not
created by overpressuring of the reservoir, by fracturing out of the
reservoir at wells, or by leaks around wells.

Second, the geologic structure and physical properties of most oil and gas
fields have been characterized extensively. While additional
characterization - particularly of the integrity and extent of the caprock
- may be needed, the availability of existing data will lower the cost of
implementing CO2 sequestration projects.

But scientists do not have good field data on how long the CO2 is likely
to remain in the reservoir, or what physical or chemical changes might
occur in the reservoir rock. The Strata project will begin providing
answers to those questions.

For this project, an extensive 3-dimensional survey was conducted before
the CO2 injection began to provide the best possible subsurface
geophysical image of the reservoir. As the CO2 entered the reservoir at a
rate of about 40 tons per day and pressure of 1,400 pounds per square inch
(psi), scientists used highly sensitive equipment to acquire microseismic
signals to help track the movement of the plume.

The CO2 is now being allowed to "soak" into the reservoir rock for
approximately 60-90 days. In early April, a second 3-D seismic survey will
be taken. The before-and-after "snapshots" of the reservoir are expected
to begin telling scientists the fate of the CO2 plume.

Scientists will continue to monitor the CO2 plume and any changes in the
mineralization of the reservoir rock for the next year. Data from the
field test will be used to determine the accuracy of various modeling and
simulation tools that will be used to predict the storage capacity and any
physical or chemical effects of the CO2 on the reservoir.

The project is being jointly sponsored by the National Energy Technology
Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory,
and Strata. The CO2 for the experiment is being provided by Kinder Morgan
CO2 Company, LP.

The New Mexico project complements another similar and larger
sequestration field test underway at the Weyburn oil field in southeastern
Saskatchewan, Canada. Through a recently signed bilateral agreement
between the U.S. Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada, DOE is
joining more than 15 government agencies, universities, and research
institutions from around the world to monitor the capacity, movement, and
fate of CO2 injected into a producing oil reservoir (the Strata project is
taking place in a depleted, non-producing oil field).

In the Weyburn project, some 5,000 tons per day of nearly pure CO2 is
being shipped from the Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Coal
Gasification Plant outside Beulah, ND, through a 204-mile pipeline to the
Weyburn field. Encana, the field's operator, is injecting the CO2 to
extend the field's productive life, hoping to add another 25 years and as
much as 130 million barrels of oil that might otherwise have been
abandoned.

The Energy Department's contribution will be used for an intensive 3-year
scientific mapping and modeling effort to trace the movement of the CO2
and determine whether it is likely to remain in the oil reservoir
permanently.

Information on DOE's Sequestration R&D Program can be found at the
following Web site:
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/coal_power/sequestration/index.shtml

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
NNNN