Insights and Commentaries
Institute introduces CCUS to students at recent APEC meeting
15th January 2015
Topic(s): Carbon capture, law and regulation, Policy, Public engagement, use and storage (CCUS)
The Institute's Meade Goodwin reports on Institute activities at a recent meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico where the Institute’s America's team presented presented workshops designed to introduce college students to carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).
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The University of Sonora in northern Mexico was the site of a 22-23 January 2015 workshop sponsored by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The Institute organised three events designed to give students an overview of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).
Map based on Sémhur CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Although primarily designed for students and professors, more than 200 participants, including geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers with an interest in CO2 (carbon dioxide) geological storage and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), attended the workshop. Mexican partners for the event included SECRETARÍA DE ENERGÍA (SENER), Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), FECIT, PEMEX, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) and Fondo de Sustentabilidad Energética.
Attendees at the 2015 APEC CCUS Workshop included students, geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers Image: Global CCS Institute
Following a review of the fundamental principles of geological storage, experts from the US, Canada and Mexico delivered technical presentations on:
- storage capacity assessment
- risk analysis, predictive modelling
- monitoring and verification, and
- storage associated with CO2-EOR.
Please see the agenda. Delegates were given an overview of the current status of CO2 geological storage, existing best practices and challenges facing the commercial deployment of CCS/CCUS.
Rafael Acosta of CFE gave an address on sources of CO2 in Mexico and climate change in Mexico. Image: Global CCS Institute
Dr. Fernando Rodriguez De la Garza presented PEMEX’s EOR strategy for CO2 injection in Mexico. Image: Global CCS Institute
The meeting also provided participants with a high level summary of the global status of CCS/CCUS projects and programs, an overview of the CCS Roadmap for Mexico and key policy drivers in both the United States and Mexico, an update on capture technologies and best practices in public engagement. Speakers from the World Bank and the US Department of Energy described programs and progress in CCUS deployment in Mexico and in the US.
The Global CCS Institute's Americas team included:
- Elizabeth Burton, General Manager – The Americas
- Ron Munson, Principal Manager – Capture
- Pamela Tomski, Senior Advisor - Policy and Regulation
- Neil Wildgust, Principal Manager – Storage, and
- Meade Goodwin, Senior Advisor – Capacity Development and Public Engagement.
Please see slides below for more detail on each of the presentations.