RE: Petromin and EECoal will continue to be the largest energy source in most developed and emerging countries.
If the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emission reductions sought by governments and world climate bodies are to be met, then technical solutions are required. Most scientific reviews promote CO2 capture and storage (CCS) as the most promising technology to lower fossil fuel emissions.
UCG already offers many advantages over traditional coal extraction methods that make it cleaner: as coal is not brought to the surface so less emisions, less surface and fugitive dust, greater quantities of energy from the coal seam, so UCG with CCS offers even greater reductions in emisions. UCGP works with many organisations to promtoe and encourage research in UCG-CCS, a major focus for the UCGP Research Group and we are delighted to be a Foundation Member of the GCCSI, the Global Carbon capture and Storage Institute.
UCG in combination with CCS is recognised as a potential route to carbon abatement from coal. Reports suggest that UCG in combination with CO2 injection into adjacent coal seams to enhance coal bed methane (ECBM) is a potentially attractive option, particularly under river estuaries, near-shore and eventually for offshore coal. Research is currently underway in many parts of the world into storing the CO2 in and around the coal cavity that has been gasified, or in nearby saline aquifers - so far the results look promising. Recent tests in Australia have shown that considerable quantities of Methane can be extracted using UCG and at a lower cost than Coal Bed Mathane (CBM)
The coal seam, being in the vicinity of the UCG gasification process, has several advantages as a potential storage area for CO2.It can be accessed with the same drilling equipment as UCG and the pipeline distances are short. In addition, the gas may not need to be purified to the same extent as a CO2 gas gathering pipeline. CO2 injection into coal seams displaces methane and itself is adsorbed onto the coal in a physical bond. The use of CO2 to sweep the methane out of the coal is a process known as enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM), which offers considerable potential both as a method of extracting more methane from the coal and as a permanent store for the CO2. Tests have been made of ECBM in China, Japan, United States and Poland (REPOCOL) and the results have been encouraging.
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