seep tents GROUP PROJECT Marine Hydrocarbon Seep Capture: Feasibility and Potential Impacts
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Quick Links Group Project Report (700KB) |
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| From left to right: Ali Ger, Erin Mayberry, Farah Shamszadeh, Misty Gonzales | |
abstractThe waters off of Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara, California are home to some of the most active marine hydrocarbon seeps in the world. The recent energy crisis in California has sparked interest in capturing this seepage as a source of natural gas while reducing precursors to ozone formation. This study evaluates potential environmental consequences, regulatory aspects, and net economic benefits of capturing the natural gas. We find little positive or negative long-term environmental impact from installing seep tents. Additionally, we determine that beyond the required development permits, the major regulatory obstacles are permitting the gas processing infrastructure and acquiring emission reduction credits. The economic analysis requires assumptions regarding the number of seep capture tents, spatial distribution of flux, flux captured, ozone production, health benefits from reduced air pollution, future gas sales, and emission reduction credits. We design an integrated analytical model to evaluate the costs, benefits, and ultimate economic viability of a seep tents project under varying assumptions. Under our “most likely scenario” we project total costs of $7.5 million, monetary health benefits of $2.1 million and gas sales revenue of $2.2 million, resulting in a total project loss of $3.1 million over a 20-year planning horizon. To explore parameter sensitivity, we ran a comprehensive sensitivity analysis. Results suggest that the project becomes economically attractive only when emission reduction credits are issued. Given present political, economic, and seep flux conditions we do not recommend tenting the marine hydrocarbon seeps in the Santa Barbara Channel.
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Last updated: 05/20/02
