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Toward a framework of environmental risk management for CO2 geological storage in china: gaps and suggestions for future regulations

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Abstract

China encourages the demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. In an effort to identify gaps and provide suggestions for environmental risk management of carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage in China, this article presents a concise overview of potential health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks and environmental management regulations for CO2 geological storage in Australia, Japan, the United States (USA), the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK). The environmental impact assessment (EIA) experience of Shenhua Ordos Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) Project and PetroChina Jilin Oil Field enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is subsequently analyzed in light of our field investigation, and gaps in current EIA guidelines that are applicable to CO2 geological storage projects are identified. It is found that there are no specific environmental risk regulations suitable for CO2 storage in China, and environmental risk management lags behind the development of CCS technology, which presents a challenge to demonstration enterprises in terms of assessing environmental risk. One major challenge is the overestimation or underestimation of this risk on the part of the enterprise, and another is a lack of applicable regulations for government sectors to supervise the risk throughout CCS projects. Therefore, there is a pressing need for China to formulate environmental management regulations that include environmental risk assessment, mandatory monitoring schemes, environmental emergency plans, and related issues.

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Notes

  1. The definition stage refers to the stage after project evaluation, when the project is ready to be carried out.

  2. Projects in which governments have been invested must apply administrative approval.

  3. Projects in which government capital is not invested must apply for authorized approval.

  4. Projects are not subject to administrative approval and authorized approval.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their critical comments, which greatly improved the manuscript. Financial support from the China-Australia Geological Storage of CO2 (CAGS) program and the China CDM foundation are gratefully acknowledged. Lancui Liu gratefully acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 70903028 and 71373099. Qi Li also thanks the Hundred Talent Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Key Technology R&D Program (Shengli CO2-EOR) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2012BAC24B05) for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Climate and Environmental Policy, Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, 701 Room, Beikechuangye Building, 10 Dayangfang, Beiyuan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, China

    Lan-Cui Liu & Dong Cao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China

    Qi Li

  3. The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21, Beijing, China

    Jiu-Tian Zhang

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  1. Lan-Cui Liu
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  2. Qi Li
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  3. Jiu-Tian Zhang
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  4. Dong Cao
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Correspondence to Lan-Cui Liu.

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Liu, LC., Li, Q., Zhang, JT. et al. Toward a framework of environmental risk management for CO2 geological storage in china: gaps and suggestions for future regulations. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 21, 191–207 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-014-9589-9

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