Sean T. McCoy

Research Engineer & Project Manager
Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

412-268-5489

I manage the CCS Regulatory Project, referred to as CCSReg, at Carnegie Mellon University. The CCSReg project is a collaborative project to design a regulatory framework for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the United States. In CCS, carbon dioxide (CO₂) is captured from a large point source, such as a refinery or power plant, compressed, and transported to a suitable location where it is injected into a geological formation (i.e., porous rock) deep underground.

In January of 2008, I completed my PhD dissertation (PDF) on “The Economics of CO₂ Transport by Pipeline and Storage in Saline Aquifers and Oil Reservoirs.” In this dissertation, I developed a set of engineering and economic models and used them to analyze the economics of carbon sequestration under different circumstances. These models are designed to complement the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM), also developed at Carnegie Mellon. I am currently revising the chapters on enhanced oil recovery and aquifer storage to prepare them for publication.

Besides CCS, I am interested in many topics at the intersection of energy and the environment, such as lifecycle impacts of fossil fuel use, policies to encourage renewable energy deployment, and adaptation to climate change.

I received my Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University in May of 2008. Prior to this, I received a bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo in the now defunct Environmental Engineering (Chemical Specialization) program. As part of the co-op engineering program at the University of Waterloo, I gained two-years of engineering experience with several different companies, including Honeywell, Imperial Oil, Hitachi, and Shell Canada. As you might have guessed from my short autobiography, I'm Canadian, originally from Calgary, Alberta.

Feel free to take a look at my links or my CV (PDF).