Strategic Carbon Dioxide Infrastructure to Achieve a Low-Carbon Power Sector in the Midwestern and South-Central United States

Large-scale carbon capture, utilization,
and storage (CCUS) requires
development of critical infrastructure to connect capture locations
to geological storage sites. Here, we investigate what government
policies would be required to make the development of CO2 pipelines and large-scale CCUS in the power sector economically
viable. We focus on the transition from conventional coal to non-CO2-emitting natural gas-fired Allam-cycle power with CCUS and
study a system in which 156 Allam-cycle power generators representing
100 GW of capacity send their captured CO2 emissions to
three geological storage locations in the central United States through
7500 miles of new pipeline. Enabling policies for this system include
low-interest government loans of approximately $20 billion for pipeline
construction and an extended 20-year Section 45Q tax credit, or similar
longer-term carbon price incentive. Additional policy support will
be needed to enable initial construction of pipelines and early-mover
power generators, such as cost-sharing, governments assuming future
demand risk, or increased subsidies to early movers. The proposed
system will provide reliable, dispatchable, flexible zero-emission
power generation, complementing the intermittent generation by renewables
in a decarbonized U.S. power sector. The proposed pipeline network
could also connect into future regional infrastructure networks and
facilitate large-scale carbon management.