Climate Change
West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB)
The overarching goal of WESTCARB was to facilitate successful, commercial-scale, carbon capture, utilization, and geologic storage (CCUS) development within the WESTCARB region (California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and the province of British Columbia) by expanding and enhancing regional characterization through research and development to identify and address CCUS implementation issues.
WESTCARB was one of seven collaborative research partnerships co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to characterize regional carbon storage opportunities and conduct technology validation projects. Between 2003 and 2013, under leadership by the California Energy Commission, CIEE managed the research of over 100 public agencies, private companies, nonprofits, universities, and research labs (see partial list below) came together to identify and assess the best regional opportunities for keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere, thereby reducing humankind’s impact on the climate.
Within its territory, WESTCARB identified the major stationary sources of CO2 such as power plants, oil refineries, and cement plants, and determined the potential for storing CO2 securely in deep geologic formations. WESTCARB’s work also included research on increasing terrestrial carbon storage through tree planting, conservation forest management practices, and removal of materials such as stunted undergrowth and brush that can fuel wildfires.
Partial list of participants: Oregon Department of Forestry, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center, University of Nevada, Reno, Terralog, Inc., Sandia Technologies, Inc., Frontier Energy, Inc., Winrock International, California Geological Survey, Electric Power Research Institute, Advanced Resources International, California Climate Action Reserve, California Department of Forestry, Climate Trust, Golder Associates, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Total funding for CIEE’s WESTCARB contract was $16,000,000.
