San Juan Basin Enhanced Coalbed Methane - CO2 Sequestration Pilot

The purpose of the San Juan Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM) pilot test is to evaluate coalbed methane production efficiency with concomitant CO2 storage efficacy. Plans include injection of ~75,000 tons CO2 over the course of one year. This pilot, like the others planned, is intended to test a suite of measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV) approaches tailored for its unique geology (coalbeds) and value-added benefit (methane production). Additional objectives include detailed risk assessment and mitigation plans, and to identify regulatory gaps for ECBM and CO2 sequestration.

Also planned for the San Juan basin is a local terrestrial sequestration pilot test - a riparian area restoration project tied to the ECBM pilot test. Specifically, produced water from the San Juan basin will be desalinated and applied to a riparian area and CO2 sequestration monitored and evaluated. The terrestrial pilot will begin prior to the ECBM pilot. Initial testing will involve produced water from other SJB wells, but will ultimately involve the production wells of the ECBM pilot. The overall project goals are to validate sequestration technologies, including MMV and risk mitigation approaches, and to identify regulatory gaps. Goals for this pilot include improved technologies and systems for direct measurements of soil and vegetation carbon, remote sensing and classification protocols to improve mesoscale soil and vegetation carbon estimates, state and transitional models that reflect soil/vegetation changes resulting from current land use and land use associated with implantation of programs to sequester carbon or reduce carbon losses, and finally a regional inventory and decision support tool that integrates information gathered previously.