Overview
Unfracking is developing and advocating on state and federal levels for an alternative orphan oil and gas well plugging technology that incorporates biochar to 1. Remove and sequester significant CO2 from the carbon cycle, 2. improve methane absorption. 3. remediate toxins in soils, and 4. improve plug quality.
What is Unfracking?
Unfracking is a technology similar to or the same as current oil and gas plugging technology but adding locally and ethically sourced solid plant-based biocarbon in the form of biochar in at least four possible ways: 1. in the cement slurry for well casings and plugs, 2. In the cap 3. in the fluid used to fill intervals and spaces between plugs, and 4. in remediation of soil around the well site.
Unfracking is a safe solution to the world’s need to sequester carbon in the ground. Once biochar is put into the ground it will never be carbon dioxide again. Putting biochar in oil and gas wells would safely sequester a significant amount of carbon.
What’s wrong with current well plugging methods?
Current methods use Portland cement. The problems with current Portland cement based methods are: leaking, breaking down over time, and a huge carbon footprint. The goal is to make each plug carbon neutral at least and carbon negative if possible, in a way that P&A operators can easily adopt.
In addition to the significant benefit of greenhouse gas reduction that comes with plugging wells using current methods, we believe that plugging using Unfracking can potentially add these additional benefits:
- Further lowering of greenhouse gasses 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
A feasibility study or pilot project is needed to test Unfracking in actual oil and gas well plugging. Legislation for a pilot has been proposed and is sponsored in Colorado. The bill will be in the 2023 CO state legislative session. We are now working with the geoengineering department at Stony Brook to design pilots and develop the data on this project.
