About
Introduction to CCS in the Illinois Basin
View this StoryMap to learn more about the basics of CCS.
What is CO2?
CO2 is a greenhouse gas that has been rapidly increasing in concentration in Earth’s atmosphere, posing environmental and societal hazards. By capturing and storing some of this CO2 from the source of its pollution, we can better manage the output of CO2 into the atmosphere.
What is CCS?
CCS (carbon capture and storage) refers to a group of technologies for reducing CO2 emissions or removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Capture includes technologies that separate CO2 from a large emission source, such as a power generation industrial facility or cement manufacturing facility (point source capture), or directly from the atmosphere (direct air capture).
Both CO2 captured via point source capture or direct air capture can be compressed and transported—via truck, air, railcar, or pipeline—for long-term storage in deep underground geologic formations. These technologies are proven to reduce CO2 emissions or remove CO2 from the atmosphere. This can also enhance the ability of U.S. companies to sell or export low-carbon products or CCS technologies as more businesses and nations set greenhouse gas reduction goals.
How Do We Store CO2?
There are three major stages of CCS technology: capture, transportation, and storage. Our key priorities for CCS are improving efficiency, economic viability, and safety.
Illinois Basin Geology
We are looking specifically at the Illinois Basin, which covers most of the state of Illinois as well as neighboring states like Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
This region has some of the highest capacity for carbon storage in the country and would allow for significant economic and environmental benefits for residents and businesses of Illinois.
The storage resources of the Illinois Basin alone is enough to store anywhere from 12 to 158 billion tons of CO2, enough to last us hundreds of years of storage.
Illinois geology is particularly suitable for carbon storage. More than a mile underground is the Mt. Simon Sandstone, which is a primary target for geologic storage of CO2. This is due to its suitability for storage but also its distance from groundwater aquifers and the low number of wells drilled into the sandstone. The Eau Claire Shale, an impermeable rock unit, overlies the Mt. Simon Sandstone and acts as a barrier to upward CO2 movement. Another target carbon storage formation is the St. Peter Sandstone with the Maquoketa Shale as a confining unit.
