Happy Thursday!
Last December we blogged on how
they were testing the use Artificial Intelligent to find unknown orphan wells
as a way to help with this ongoing problem. Orphan wells will cost Texas alone
millions to plug them according to the News. Well, it appears there may be something to do
with orphan wells besides plug them which may help us, and it may help
stabilize the grid, too!
Did anyone
happen to read MSN on March 13, 2025, they had an article from Tech
Xplore titled, “Reusing old oil and gas wells may offer green energy
storage solutions”? In the article, it speaks
on how a study by Penn State has been released and published in the Journal
of Energy Storage on how using old spent oil and gas wells may be a
solution on how to store excess renewable energy according to simulations and modelling
the researchers conducted. The
researchers suggested using geothermal compressed-air energy storage systems
(CAES) on appropriate orphan wells should help reduce the costs and make use of
these public nuances and health hazards.
CAES facilities pump air underground when electricity is cheap and demand
is low then when the power is needed, they flip a switch and energy is added
back to the grid at a premium price.
There is one problem with the CAES is the drilling of the well is cost prohibitive,
nonetheless using exhausted or orphan wells would bring the costs down to earth. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency believes there are about 3.9 million orphan wells in the U.S. If companies use existing wells with certain
permeameters, this should reduce start-up costs and make the technology more competitive. Geothermal
CAES would help make the grid more sustainable and profitable as well as help
reduce greenhouse gases. If you would
like to read more of the article from Tech Xplore published on MSN,
please click the link: Reusing old oil and gas wells may offer green energy storage solution .
How can we help you reduce
your greenhouse gas emissions on your liquid petroleum product transportation
system? We can help update your emission controls or look to see what is under
your feet to help lower your emissions, contact us via email in the Blog and
check out our ESC website!
It is Day 10
of the Houston Livestock and Rodeo,
so please check their website for daily activities and information.
We hope you have a wonderful evening!
**Disclaimer: You may be charged a
fee to read the article on MSN. **