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With America making more of an effort to go “green,” electric utilities across the nation are trying to find ways to reduce carbon emissions in a safe, economical manner. KSMU’s Adam Hammons has more on how Springfield looked to store carbon underground.
“I’m here at the southwest power station between Springfield and Republic. When I look to one side I see the power station with smokestacks showing signs of activity. When I look to the other side I see an open field with four work trailers and two port a potties. Not long ago researchers from several organizations were in this open field to see if they could inject carbon below the earth’s surface. The team found the location to be unsuitable because they found drinking water where the carbon was to be stored.”
“This particular time we found out, as research sometimes does, that this wasn’t the proper site to do this entire project.
That’s Joel Alexander, a spokesperson for City Utilities. Starting in 2009, City Utilities gathered several researchers from universities and other organizations to see if carbon could be stored in the sandstone near the Southwest Power Station.
“We were looking to find out if what we classify as lamotte sandstone area at 2000 feet if that would be adequate to contain carbon dioxide if that were captured from a power plant.”
After several tests and drilling, the team deemed the site not suitable.
“But we did find out that at that depth we have an additional supply of drinking water if needed.”
Alexander says there’s a lot yet to be learned about storing carbon dioxide underground. But he says CU is just trying to stay ahead of the game.
Alexander says City Utilities will meet with other utility partners to see if their sites could be future locations to continue the study.
For KSMU News, I’m Adam Hammons.
