BATTELLE TO LEAD MIDWEST PARTNERSHIP EXPLORING CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE NATION'S INDUSTRIAL HEARTLAND

Battelle has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a group of public and private partners that will explore the viability of carbon sequestration as a key climate change mitigation technology.

Battelle is a global leader in the field of carbon management, designing, and deploying economic climate change mitigation strategies for the public and private sectors.

The partnership, called the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), will receive $2.4 million in funding over the course of the two-year contract. The Department of Energy is investing $1.6 million, the state of Ohio through the Ohio Coal Development Office is investing $100,000, and the other participants are contributing just over $700,000.

Carbon capture and sequestration encompass a variety of methods for removing carbon dioxide from the exhausts of large industrial facilities such as power plants or from the air, and securely sequestering it in geologic formations, in soils and vegetation, or in other environmentally safe forms.

The partnership was formed to assess the technical, economic, and social acceptability of geologic and terrestrial carbon sequestration and will focus its efforts in the Midwest region made up of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

"It's unique to have a research team with such depth and breadth of skills paired with major industrial firms such as these. It will be a powerful driver in advancing key energy and climate management technologies such as sequestration," said Ron Cudnik, Battelle's program manager for the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership.

The MRCSP's world-class research team encompasses many of the Region's universities and research firms. Terrestrial sequestration research will be led by Dr. Rattan Lal of The Ohio State University, a global leader in the field of terrestrial sequestration, along with leading researchers drawn from The Ohio State University and staff at Purdue University, Pennsylvania State University, and West Virginia University. Geologic sequestration research will be spearheaded by leading researchers at the Ohio Division of Geological Survey and leading experts at the state geological surveys of West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, as well as industrial experts from Consol Energy. Research relating to the current and future regulatory framework will be led by the National Regulatory Research Institute. Battelle and the Keystone Center will lead education and stakeholder outreach with support from local groups such as the Ohio Environmental Council.

The group intends to engage public officials and stakeholders at all levels to communicate the potential value and the issues associated with sequestration.

"We look forward to initiating this research that will directly address the need to gain a solid understanding of how, when, and under what kinds of rules this important class of energy technologies will begin to be used," Cudnik said.

In addition to Battelle, the partners are American Electric Power, Arch Coal Inc., British Petroleum, Cinergy, Consol Energy Inc., First Energy, Indiana Geological Survey, Kentucky Geological Survey, the Keystone Center, National Regulatory Research Institute, Nordic Power, Ohio Coal Development Office of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, Ohio Division of Geological Survey, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, The Ohio State University, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, West Virginia University and Wisconsin Energy Corporation.

Battelle is a global leader in science and technology. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, it develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for government and commercial customers. Battelle, with the national labs that it manages or co-manages, oversees 16,000 staff members and conducts $2.7 billion in annual research and development. Battelle innovations include the development of the office copier machine (Xerox), pioneering work on compact disc technology, and medical technology advancements.

For more information, visit www.battelle.org or contact Katy Delaney, Media Relations Manager, at (614) 424-5544 or delaneyk@battelle.org.