HB23-1069, Study Biochar in Plugging of Oil and Gas Wells will carve a path to plug orphan wells better while safely and permanently removing and sequestering carbon.
Among the many bills passed during this recent Colorado legislative session is HB23-1069; given the laborious name of “Study Biochar in Plugging of Oil and Gas Wells”. It’s another step along the path to recognizing and dealing with the many factors contributing to climate change.
“This legislation is truly a first of its kind, and it has the potential to be replicated beyond Colorado in nearly a dozen states, where orphan wells are located in great numbers,” said OpenAir Collective Co-founder Chris Neidl.
Passing with bipartisan enthusiasm, Study Biochar in Plugging of Oil and Gas Wells is the first legislation of its kind in the world. It authorizes a study and move toward implementation of a simple technology that promises a stronger, more durable well plug. In layman’s terms, it represents a way to safely and permnently remove carbon from the world’s overloaded carbon cycle.
Fracking pollution. Photo courtesy of WildEarth Guardians
“Everyone agrees that we need to plug orphan oil and gas wells, but still, millions of orphans across the country sit open, emitting methane, benzene, heavy metals, and CO2. When wells do get plugged, the Portland cement often cracks and leaks, and they keep emitting. This study is the start of plugging more and plugging better, and Colorado is leading the way,” said 350 Colorado Board of Directors Janis Hallowell, the originator of the HB23-1069 bill.
“Already other states are moving toward similar bills to begin oil and gas plugging with biochar. This is the beginning of a great clean-up effort which will be an important part of the transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.”
It was sponsored by Colorado state representatives McCormick and Amabile and senators Cutter and Priola, passed the House and Senate on May 6, 2023, and was signed into law
The study will be led by Colorado State University (CSU)’s Carbon Soil Science Center. An advisory group will be formed made up of representatives from the oil and gas industry, COGCC, CEO, CDPHE, the environmental community, disproportionally impacted communities, and others.
“Using biochar to plug end-of-life oil and gas wells in Colorado is a win-win-win. It removes dead trees from Colorado forests that would otherwise be emitting carbon and methane as they decompose, provides a proven method of carbon sequestration–as opposed to other more speculative schemes,” said Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate Legislative Analyst Jan Rose. “It reduces the amount of carbon-intensive cement currently used in well-plugging operations while at the same time absorbing harmful hydrocarbons and pollutants that are known to leak from abandoned wells.”
A 2020 Reuters investigation concluded that the 3.2 million orphaned and abandoned wells across the U.S. emit 281,000 tons of methane into he atmosphere per year and that plugging wells will measurably decrease these emissions.
Scientists from around the world believe that plugging with biochar will significantly lower greenhouse gases from abandoned wells as with current methods but will add these additional benefits:
Further lowering of greenhouse gases and chemical leaks to air and waterways
Significant carbon sequestration
Lower the carbon footprint of cement used in plugging
Bind lingering chemicals from fugitive emissions, including methane and CO2
Provide a use for dead trees cleared from forest and woods that otherwise will emit CO2 and contribute to forest fires
Create a stronger, more flexible cement that sequesters carbon
Remediate chemicals from the surrounding soil and foster a healthy biome
Create interest, urgency, and new revenue streams in the form of federal money, carbon credits, and jobs to safely sequester carbon
Create incentives to get more orphans plugged
Create a healthy, circular bio-economy
Scentists think that the study will show that between 10 and 130 tons of biochar can be used in each well. That translates to each well accounting for between 37 and 480 tons of CO2 equivalent taken permanently out of the world’s overloaded carbon cycle.
“Because it is a solid and inert, the carbon stored in spent oil and gas wells will never escape into the atmosphere as CO2,” added Hallowell. “Applied to the 3.2 million wells across the nation, scientists think roughly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 can potentially be permanently and safely sequestered with biochar well plugging.”
“The potential uses for biochar are vast, and the consideration of the use of biochar in plugging of oil and gas wells is an exciting new prospect. We have large amounts of a supply source here in Colorado with acres of pine beetle-killed trees that need to be removed for fire mitigation. We have a large number of retired oil and gas wells. Pairing the two through biochar creates the potential for a great partnersip for a fossil fuel industry to be part of helping to permanently sequester carbon from the carbon cycle,” said Colorado House District 11 Representative Karen McCormick, who carried the bill for the House.
“With over 55,000 producing and 50,000 non-producing oil and gas wells around the state that could be plugged with biochar, this can provide meaningful jobs as Colorado and the nation transition beyond fossil fuels to clean renewable energy,” said 350 Colorado Executive Director Micah Parkin.