Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Effects of tax credits on carbon capture and sequestration in a multi-phased model(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2021) Strahan, Cooper Davis; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sean YawStudies have consistently shown that the increase of CO 2 in the atmosphere is correlated to rising temperatures. In order to stop the rise in global temperatures, climate change mitigation strategies will need to be deployed at scale. All of the plans that meet the goal of staying below 2 °C include CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) as one of those strategies. CCS is a climate change mitigation strategy aimed at reducing the amount of CO 2 vented into the atmosphere by capturing CO 2 emissions from industrial sources, transporting the CO 2 via a dedicated pipeline network, and injecting it into geologic reservoirs. Designing CCS infrastructure is a complex problem requiring concurrent optimization of source selection, reservoir selection, and pipeline routing decisions. Current CCS infrastructure design methods assume that project parameters including costs, capacities, and availability, remain constant throughout the project's lifespan. In this research, we introduce a novel, multi-phased, CCS infrastructure design model that allows for analysis of more complex scenarios that allow for variations in project parameters across distinct phases. We also apply this new model to a study exploring the impacts of modifying CCS tax credits on the economic viability of CCS projects.Item Scalable solutions to the carbon capture infrastructure problem(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2020) Whitman, Caleb; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sean YawCO 2 capture and storage (CCS) is a climate change mitigation strategy that aims to reduce the amount of CO 2 vented into the atmosphere from industrial processes. Designing cost-effective CCS infrastructure is critical to meeting CO 2 emission reduction targets and is a computationally challenging problem. CCS infrastructure design is a generalization of the capacitated fixed charge network flow problem, CFCNF. CFCNF is NP-hard with no known approximation algorithms. In our work, we design three novel heuristics to solve CCS. We evaluate all heuristics on real life CCS infrastructure design data and find that they quickly generate solutions close to optimal. Decreasing the time it takes to determine CCS infrastructure designs will support national-level scenarios, undertaking risk and sensitivity assessments, and understanding the impact of government policies (e.g. 45Q tax credits for CCS).Item An inventory of carbon stocks under native vegetation and farm fields in south-central Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2015) Kisch, Hailey Rose; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Clayton B. MarlowAnnually, carbon dioxide (CO 2) is emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, creating a CO 2 emission source. Vegetation and soils capture and store these emissions, however not nearly in the quantity being emitted. Disparity between sources and sinks of CO 2 emissions requires actions focused on reducing CO 2 emissions (CCSP, 2007). Cabin Creek Ranch, near Shepherd, MT offers a rich opportunity to understand the current carbon balance within various land cover types, and to determine the effect that cropping, grazing and concentrated feeding has on the potential for ranch soils to sequester additional carbon. Samples were collected from 30 soil and 16 vegetation locations, which were randomly chosen in a variety of cover types. Soil samples were taken every 15 cm throughout the soil profile (down to 100 cm, if possible). Four .25 m 2 frames were used to collect herbaceous material 25 meters in each cardinal direction from soil pit center. Clay and land cover type were found to have a significant interaction on the organic carbon content in the soils (p=0.021). Additionally, dryland crop was found to be significantly different in organic carbon content compared to other cover types (p<0.0001). Therefore, management towards a specific land cover type could help mitigate CO 2 emissions. For example, revegetating dryland crop fields to a native grassland, sagebrush or forest, the landscape would be able to store 230%, 232% and 256% more organic carbon, respectively. Understanding the carbon balance on the landscape scale contributes to understanding the global carbon balance to help mitigate burning of fossil fuels.