Carbon Dioxide Plume Geothermal (CPG) System-A New Approach for Enhancing Geothermal Energy Production and Deployment of CCUS on Large Scale in India

Geothermal energy is described as the process of extracting the heat generated by the earth and harnessing it to produce electricity. Geothermal energy is capable of providing clean, consistent, reliable electricity production even without the need for grid scale energy storage unlike the renewable energy alternatives such as solar energy, wind energy, etc.. In present scenario, 22 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere from human sources which are considered as waste and also the biggest reasons for the promotion of Global warming through GHGs. CO2 Plume geothermal technology (CPG) involves capturing the CO2 from waste emissions such as coal fired power plant using CCUS technology and injecting it into natural, highly permeable geologic formations to extract energy. The CO2 in the subsurface absorbs heat from the reservoir, buoyantly rises to the surface and drives power generation system. In this paper, we have analysed the thermodynamic and fluid mechanical properties of CO2 suggesting that the CO2 from emissions can be used as best working fluid in subsurface to harness significant amount of energy from geologic heat. Production of electric energy along with its supply in conjunction with CCUS can improve economic viability of CO2 Sequestration which is the major hurdle for its large scale implementation in India and all around the world. Further we present the simulation results demonstrating the potential of geothermal energy capture of CPG compared to other geothermal systems and its implications on geologic CO2 sequestration in terms of economic viability in the Indian context.