Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions generated by the burning of fossil fuels during industrial and energy-related processes. CCS involves the capture, transport and long-term storage of carbon dioxide, usually in geological reservoirs deep underground that would otherwise be released to the atmosphere.
CCS is an important part of California's efforts to assess methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the state's overall strategy to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CCS Regulation
In December 2010, the EPA finalized regulations creating a new
Class VI well, geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, within the its Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program.
To file an application for a Class VI well, contact the U.S. EPA, Ground Water Office, WTR-9 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, California, 94105; (415) 972-3971.
CalGEM and CCS Technology Development
Assembly Bill 1925 (Blakeslee, Chapter 471) required the California Energy Commission, in coordination with the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) and the California Geological Survey to prepare a
report (Phase I) (PDF) recommending how California could facilitate the adoption of geologic carbon sequestration.
Also, CalGEM was an active member on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission’s Geological CO2 Sequestration Task Force that examined the technical, policy and regulatory issues related to safe and effective storage of CO2 in the subsurface (depleted oil and natural gas fields, saline formations, and coal beds). The IOGCC report is Carbon Capture and Storage: A Regulatory Framework for States (PDF).
