title: Evaluating the climate benefits of CO2-enhanced oil recovery using life cycle analysis.
abstract: This study uses life cycle analysis (LCA) to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) systems. A detailed gate-to-gate LCA model of EOR was developed and incorporated into a cradle-to-grave boundary with a functional unit of 1 MJ of combusted gasoline. The cradle-to-grave model includes two sources of CO2: natural domes and anthropogenic (fossil power equipped with carbon capture). A critical parameter is the crude recovery ratio, which describes how much crude is recovered for a fixed amount of purchased CO2. When CO2 is sourced from a natural dome, increasing the crude recovery ratio decreases emissions, the opposite is true for anthropogenic CO2. When the CO2 is sourced from a power plant, the electricity coproduct is assumed to displace existing power. With anthropogenic CO2, increasing the crude recovery ratio reduces the amount of CO2 required, thereby reducing the amount of power displaced and the corresponding credit. Only the anthropogenic EOR cases result in emissions lower than conventionally produced crude. This is not specific to EOR, rather the fact that carbon-intensive electricity is being displaced with captured electricity, and the fuel produced from that system receives a credit for this displacement.
authors.affiliation: Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Lead Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Senior Environmental Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cooney
authors.affiliation: Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Lead Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Senior Environmental Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Littlefield
authors.affiliation: Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Lead Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Senior Environmental Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States.
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marriott
authors.affiliation: Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Lead Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, 651 Holiday Drive, Foster Plaza 5, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, United States.|Senior Environmental Engineer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Skone
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D002980:Climate; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum; D002245:Carbon Dioxide