Comparing Existing Pipeline Networks with the Potential Scale of Future U.S. CO2 Pipeline Networks
There is growing interest regarding the potential size of a future U.S. dedicated carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline infrastructure if carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies are commercially deployed on a large scale within the United States. This paper assesses the potential scale of the CO2 pipeline system needed under two hypothetical climate policies (so called WRE450 and WRE550 stabilization scenarios) and compares this to the extant U.S. pipeline infrastructures used to deliver CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and to move natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons from areas of production and importation to markets. The analysis reveals that between 11,000 and 23,000 additional miles of dedicated CO2 pipeline might be needed in the U.S. before 2050 across these two cases. While that is a significant increase over the 3,900 miles that comprise the existing national CO2 pipeline infrastructure, it is critically important to realize that the demand for additional CO2 pipeline capacity will unfold relatively slowly and in a geographically dispersed manner as new dedicated CCS-enabled power plants and industrial facilities are brought online. During the period 2010-2030, the growth in the CO2 pipeline system is on the order of a few hundred to less than a thousand miles per year. In comparison during the period 1950-2000, the U.S. natural gas pipeline distribution system grew at rates that far exceed these projections in growth in a future dedicated CO2 pipeline system. This analysis indicates that the need to increase the size of the existing dedicated CO2 pipeline system should not be seen as a major obstacle for the commercial deployment of CCS technologies in the U.S. Nevertheless, there will undoubtedly be some associated regulatory and siting issues to work through but these issues should not be unmanageable based on the size of infrastructure requirements alone.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 959156
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-62187; 400408000; TRN: US201001%%162
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Energy Procedia: 9th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Contorol Technologies (GHGT9), 1(1):1595-1602
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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