Why engineering carbon disposal may be more challenging than thought.
Nearly two dozen oil and gas industry-sponsored projects in Louisiana to shoot carbon dioxide underground to protect the climate are at risk of leaking because of nearby abandoned wells, according to two new reports from underground injection well experts.
Across the U.S., federal and state agencies are reviewing or have already approved 77 permits for 121 wells for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration projects. Louisianais one of the hotspots for these projects, with 58 storage wells planned at 24 sites across the state.
However, experts say a century of oil and gas drilling has left thousands of pathways for CO2 to squeeze its way back out into the atmosphere, potentially eroding any climate benefits and creating a safety threat for nearby residents in the event of massive rupture or leak.
“It’s not a question of whether these things are going to leak,” said Abel Russ, senior attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and director of EIP’s Center for Applied Environmental Science, which sponsored the two reports. “It’s a question of how much is acceptable and how much it’s going to be happening.”
According to the studies, more than 186,000 oil and gas wells pockmark Louisiana – some dating back to the early days of the industry, when companies used pine logs, old rags, and scrap metal to plug wells, if they were plugged at all. This is likely an undercount, as many abandoned wells are not documented in records. Of those 186,00 wells, 23,539 – nearly 13 percent – were drilled before 1953, when the industry adopted more modern plugging standards using cement.