Technology
Tech Futures is enhancing Alberta’s access to natural gas from deep coal deposits, using clean, biological processes
Partners
Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures (Tech Futures), University of Alberta, National Institute for Nanotechnolog (NINT), University of Calgary, University of Western Ontario, University of Arizona
Support
EnCana, Carbon Management Canada Network Centres of Excellence based at University of Calgary, Genome Alberta/Genome Canada
Opportunity
Alberta has vast deposits of deep unminable coal buried beneath the surface of nearly half the province. Estimates say there is close to 14 trillion cubic meters (Tm3) of coal gas, or methane in these deposits.
This vast amount of energy could heat 52 million houses for one year. That’s a lot of potential energy, but it is not known what portion of this gas is actually recoverable by standard coal bed methane extraction methods.
While some estimates say only five per cent of this energy may be recoverable, AITF’s Senior Researcher Dr. Karen Budwill has discovered a way to release more of the energy that is trapped in these unminable coal reserves by ‘waking up the bugs.’ Her work in the microscopic world of anaerobic bacteria has led to a way to coax the microbes to produce the gas which can be recovered through coal bed methane extraction, maximizing Alberta’s energy reserves with a low impact on the environment.
Status
In order to build out her findings for use in industry, Dr. Budwill has drawn together a strong team to establish a more thorough understanding of the true energy potential of these sites. The group will investigate the optimal conditions for producing and extracting the methane, as well as the development of sensors and monitoring tools that can be used in future field tests.
This story is also available as a downloadable PDF.