Project: Center for Zero Emissions Research & Technology
Brief Description: $10 million is requested to further develop the virtual research center for Zero
Emissions Research & Technology involving national labs (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL),
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Lawrence
Livermore National Lab (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL)) and two research
universities (Montana State University (MSU) and West Virginia University (WVU)) in heavy coal
producing states to monitor and validate deep geological carbon dioxide sequestration and clean power
and hydrogen generation from coal.
Executive Summary: More than half of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions worldwide are due
to transportation energy and electrical power generation. New technologies hold great promise to
significantly reduce these emissions from fossil fuels, but the engineering, economic, and environmental
viability of these zero emission fossil energy technologies must be validated. For this reason, the Center
for Zero Emissions Research and Technology (ZERT), an independent DOE sponsored research center
focused on the advanced research aspects of geologic sequestration has been established. This virtual
center encompasses multiple DOE national laboratories and two research universities located in large
coal producing states (one eastern and one western). ZERT is playing a critical role in basic research
and engineering in support of the Carbon Sequestration Regional Partnerships and the overall carbon
sequestration program..
Project Description: There are multiple issues that need to be addressed concerning geologic
sequestration: Investigation of various geologies and CO2 behavior in those formations; reservoir
modeling including potential pathways to the biosphere; geosciences studies including in situ
mineralization, caprock stability, fundamental chemistry and hydrodynamic properties of supercritical
CO2-brine mix