Biogas Produced from Local Waste Reduces the Carbon Intensity of Steam Flooded Oil Production

Abstract

Kore has developed technology that can convert California forestry waste that is an extreme fire hazard and other organic wastes into renewable energy co-products: an energy dense "biogas" and a stable, elemental "biocarbon" solid. This biogas has a heat value that compares favorably to and can replace or augment natural gas used to produce power, heat, and/or steam. Alternatively the gas can serve as feedstock to produce renewable hydrogen or renewable natural gas. The biocarbon is stable – it will not revert to CO2 or CH4. Burying or blending the carbon into soil can serve as a means of carbon sequestration such that the overall the process is carbon negative and the gas fuels produced have an ultra-low carbon intensity. Steam generation traditionally relies on natural gas combustion as the source of heat. When steam is required for enhanced oil recovery, natural gas combustion increases the carbon intensity of the crude oil product, increasing the carbon intensity of fuels refined from California crude oil compared to crude oil imported into the state. By replacing some or all of the natural gas used to generate steam with Kore's carbon negative biogas, the life cycle carbon intensity of refined fuels produced from California heavy crude can be reduced, potentially to a comparable or lower carbon intensity than fuels refined from imported oil. Three circumstances unique to California enable this approach to be timely and economically viable: 1) legislation requiring diversion of organic wastes from landfills, 2) the need to beneficially manage forest debris responsible for major fires in California, and 3) legislation enabling credits for decarbonizing transportation fuels (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) that offset the costs of thermal conversion of organic wastes to renewable energy fuels.