Source: Center for Progressive reform (2024) Carbon Dioxide Leak in Decatur, IL, Demonstrates Dangerous Failure of Carbon Capture Storage and Sequestration
Preface. Clearly it is not worth spending billions of dollars to sequester CO2 “permanently” if it may leak. It’s not just bad for air pollution but water pollution as well. The underground pressurized CO2 can leak into drinking water aquifers and pollute them with heavy metals, salts, volatile organic compounds, and radionuclides like radium.
Archer Daniel Midland’s (ADM) facility in central Illinois was the first permitted commercial carbon sequestration operation in the country. It is at the forefront of a multi-billion-dollar carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry that promises to permanently sequester CO2 deep underground. In September, the public learned of a leak at ADM’s Decatur site. Additional testing turned up a second leak, raising concerns about whether more leaks are likely, whether the public has any right to know when leaks occur, and if CCS technology is really a viable climate solution. ADM kept local and state officials in the dark for months about the first leak, detected in March, five months after discovering corrosion in the tubing in the sequestration well.
Who knew these could be dangerous? I didn’t, until I read the second article below (Dela Cruz 2024), which shows that the ASU and Amine Absorbers have the highest total number of high-severity incidents, with 16 counts each. ASUs are primarily driven by explosions and fires, while Amine Absorbers experience a mix of fires, explosions, fatalities, and material releases. Gasifiers have a high incidence of explosions, with six reported cases, underscoring the critical need for explosion prevention and control. Boilers have a moderate total number of incidents, predominantly explosions, indicating a need for stringent boiler safety protocols. The FGR, Steam Turbine, and Combustion Turbine show lower total incidents but include high-severity events such as leaks, fires, and explosions, highlighting specific areas for safety improvements.
This technology is key to government goals of slashing emissions and reaching climate goals. To make CCS happen, the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, has put $12 billion dollars up for grabs for new CCS projects and started a CCS gold rush (DOE 2022 Opportunities to Accelerate Deployment in Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Activities. U.S. Department of Energy).
Since then, Trump has stopped $3.7 billion of federal funding for many CCS projects started under the IRA, but did not alter the underlying law’s tax incentives for CCS, creating a patchwork environment for carbon capture deployment.
Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com Author of Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy; When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, & “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Women in ecology Podcasts: WGBH, Financial Sense, UCSC, Jore, Planet: Critical, Crazy Town, Collapse Chronicles, Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, Kunstler 253 &278, Peak Prosperity, Index of best energyskeptic posts
***
Ramirez-Franco J (2024) The nation’s first commercial carbon sequestration plant is in Illinois. It leaks. Grist.org
A row of executives from grain-processing behemoth Archer Daniels Midland watched as Verlyn Rosenberger, 88, took the podium at a Decatur City Council meeting last week. It was the first meeting since she and the rest of her central Illinois community learned of a second leak at ADM’s carbon dioxide sequestration well beneath Lake Decatur, their primary source of drinking water.
“Just because CO2 sequestration can be done doesn’t mean it should be done,” the retired elementary school teacher told the city council. “Pipes eventually leak.”
ADM’s facility in central Illinois was the first permitted commercial carbon sequestration operation in the country, and it’s on the forefront of a booming, multibillion-dollar carbon capture and storage, or CCS, industry that promises to permanently sequester planet-warming carbon dioxide deep underground.
North Dakota and Wyoming administer their own carbon sequestration permitting programs and between them there are more than 10 permitted sequestration wells. The EPA has issued permits for four carbon sequestration wells in the United States — two each in Illinois and Indiana — but many more are on the way. Three proposed pipelines and 22 wells are up for review by state and federal regulators in Illinois, where the geography makes the landscape especially well suited for CCS. Nationwide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing 150 different applications.
But if CCS operations leak, they can pose significant risks to water resources. That’s because pressurized CO2 stored underground can escape or propel brine trapped in the saline reservoirs typically used for permanent storage. The leaks can lead to heavy metal contamination and potentially lower pH levels, all of which can make drinking water undrinkable. This is what bothers critics of carbon capture, who worry that it’s solving one problem by creating another.
In September, the public learned of a leak at ADM’s Decatur site after it was reported by E&E News, which covers energy and environmental issues. Additional testing mandated by the EPA turned up a second leak later that month. The EPA has confirmed these leaks posed no threat to water sources. Still, they raise concern about whether more leaks are likely, whether the public has any right to know when leaks occur, and if CCS technology is really a viable climate solution.
ADM kept local and state officials in the dark for months about the first leak. They detected it back in March, five months after discovering corrosion in the tubing in the sequestration well. However, neither leak was disclosed as the company this spring petitioned the city of Decatur for an easement to expand its operations. The company also remained tight-lipped about the leak as it took part in major negotiations over the state’s first CCS regulations, the SAFE CCS Act, between April and May, according to several parties involved.
Central Illinois is becoming a hotspot nationwide for the nascent CCS industry because of the Mt. Simon Sandstone, a deep saline formation of porous rock especially suitable for CO2 storage. It underlies the majority of Illinois and spills into parts of Indiana and Kentucky. It has an estimated storage capacity of up to 150 billion tons of CO2, making it the largest reservoir of its kind anywhere in the Midwest.
However, there is concern that pumping CO2 into saline reservoirs near subsurface water risks pushing pressurized CO2 and brine toward those resources, which would pose additional contamination risks. “Brine is pretty nasty stuff,” said Dominic Diguilio, a retired geoscientist from the EPA Office of Research and Development. “It has a very high concentration of salts, heavy metals, sometimes volatile organic compounds and radionuclides like radium.”
Horn says with so many more wells planned for Illinois, the Decatur leaks should be a wakeup call not just to the city, but to the region. He is particularly concerned about any future wells near east central Illinois’ primary drinking water source, the Mahomet aquifer, which lies above the Mt. Simon Sandstone formation.
Close to a million people rely on the Mahomet aquifer for drinking water, according to the Prairie Research Institute. In 2015, the EPA designated the underground reservoir a “sole source,” meaning there are no other feasible drinking water alternatives should the groundwater be contaminated. When it comes to the Mahomet aquifer, “there is no room for error if there is a mistake,” said Horn.
Dela Cruz RD et al (2024) Review of Major Chemical Safety Incidents in the Global Carbon Capture Industry. Saltegra Consulting
This study focused on the incident analysis and hazard analysis of Amine Absorber and Air Separation Unit (ASU) systems within Carbon Capture Technologies (CCT). Findings highlighted a high frequency and severity of incidents related to Amine Absorbers and ASUs, primarily due to leaks, corrosion, overpressure, and mechanical failures.
CCTs face several hazards, including overpressure, which can lead to explosions if pressure exceeds design limits; overheating, which can degrade materials and cause equipment failure; leaks of CO2 or other gasses, posing safety and environmental risks; corrosion and erosion from chemical reactions and high flow rates, leading to equipment degradation; mechanical failure due to fatigue, stress, or manufacturing defects; and contamination, which can affect the efficiency and safety of the capture process.
The rise in CCT has also led to more process safety incidents, such as fires and explosions. The growing complexity and scale of operations also increase the risks. There is a significant research gap in summarizing safety incidents and methods to prevent them. Moreover, studies often separate incident analysis and hazard assessment, leading to a fragmented understanding of safety risks.
Fig. 5 shows the frequency of CCT Safety incidents by country. The USA led with 37, China 12, Canada 11, Norway 7, Germany 6, India 5, and others 15.
Fig 6 shows that 41.1% of incidents happened in Amine Absorbers, 10.5% in the Gassifier, 15.8% the ASU, 9.5% the Bioler, 5.3% each in steam and combustine turbines, 5.3% in the FGR, 4.2% PSA, and 3.2% polymetric membranes. The Amine Absorber, ASU, and Gasifier show the highest incidence rates, reflecting the complex hazardous nature of their operations. The Amine Absorber is prone to leaks and corrosion, ASUs are susceptible to mechanical failure and contamination, and gasifiers face significant hazards from overpressure and leaks.
Fig 7 shows that the ASU and Amine Absorber both exhibit the highest total number of high-severity incidents, with 16 counts each. ASUs are primarily driven by explosions and fires, while Amine Absorbers experience a mix of fires, explosions, fatalities, and material releases. Gasifiers have a high incidence of explosions, with six reported cases, underscoring the critical need for explosion prevention and control. Boilers have a moderate total number of incidents, predominantly explosions, indicating a need for stringent boiler safety protocols. The FGR, Steam Turbine, and Combustion Turbine show lower total incidents but include high-severity events such as leaks, fires, and explosions, highlighting specific areas for safety improvements.