Faults are naturally occurring structures within the subsurface where there has been dislocation between adjacent rock formations.They can be a few metres to several kilometres in length and can have fracture zones of variable width.Evidence from the petroleum industry shows that they can act as seals or conduits for fluid flow.These structures can...

CaMI is a research site set up by the University of Calgary near the town of Brooks in southern Alberta.Prior to the combined Monitoring and Environmental Research network meeting organised by IEAGHG and the University of Calgary, delegates benefited from a guided tour of the site and its experimental monitoring activities.The CaMI site was establi...

The drive towards CCUS implementation across the Asia-Pacific region was highlighted recently as part of the Asia Clean Energy Forum hosted by the ADB. Delegates from several Asian companies and research orientated institutions, as well as representatives from the IEA, World Bank, US DOE, International CCS Knowledge Centre, Canada, UK-China (Guangd...

The close of the GHGT-14 conference, held in October in Melbourne, presented an excellent opportunity to visit the Otway test facility operated by CO2CRC.The site, which is approximately 245 km (~152 miles) from Melbourne, was visited on two consecutive days by conference delegates who were given guided tours and background briefing on CO2CRC's act...

The second day of the GHGT-14 Conference in Melbourne opened with an up-beat plenary session from three prominent figures directly engaged in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). All three are influential in CCUS technological advances their respective portfolios. Steve Winberg, Assistance Secretary for Fossil Fuel in the US Department o...

On Day 2 of the GTGT-14 Conference in Melbourne, the second panel discussion covered the important topic of unlocking CCUS Investment. The distinguished panel, chaired by Samantha McCulloch from the IEA, included representatives from the US Department of Energy, Shell, Total and the World Bank. Samantha set the scene by explaining how the IEA's cli...

  A highlight of the recent combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting was the inclusion of a keynote address from Lynn Helms, who is the head of North Dakota's Industrial Commission.Lynn's contribution was exceptional because the state's Industrial Commission now has Primacy for all six classes of wellbore disposal and is the only...

As part of the latest IEAGHG combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting, hosts EERC organised a field trip to a brine extraction and pressure management test site (BEST) near Watford City, North Dakota.One of the challenges presented by CO2 injection into saline formations is an increase in reservoir pressure. Brine extraction can be us...

IEAGHG, together with hosts the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), has just held another combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting, in Grand Forks, North Dakota.EERC is part of the University of North Dakota, and is an active participant in CCS research, notably the lead organisation of the PCOR Regional Carbon Sequestrat...

In the latest PTRC news-letter the Saskatchewan based research organisation announced that the week of 13th – 16thMarch marked the fourth seismic imaging run conducted over the Aquistore site. This technique is an integral part of the sites's monitoring and measurement programme. Since injection began in 2015 over 140,000 tonnes have been stored. T...

One of the highlights from the US DOE Carbon Storage and oil and natural gas Technologies Review Meeting between 1st and 3rd August 2017, was a summary from, Robert Vagnetti of NETL on the current US geothermal FORGE programme (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy). This energy source is not only relatively abundant in the US it a...

The US DOE annual Carbon Storage Review meeting, held in Pittsburgh 1-3 August, included presentations on the latest technology innovations currently under development in the country. One of the challenges of secure subsurface storage is the ability to track CO2 in deep reservoirs. Fibre-optic distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) are attracting incre...

 Secure retention of CO2 in offshore storage sites will depend on reliable measuring, monitoring and verification (MMV) to ensure that any unplanned releases can be detected. The marine environment also needs to be characterised so that potential changes caused by a release of CO2 can be distinguished from natural variability. The Energy Techn...

 The effectiveness of CCS as a global solution to carbon emission abatement will depend on widespread deployment in both established industrialised and developing economies. One of the key stages for any country is the identification of a national CO2 storage resource. To help understand the challenges faced by different countries that have ei...

​Review of CO2 storage in basalts – new technical review from IEAGHG on the potential of using basalts and other magnesium rich rocks to store CO2. Conventional CO2 storage relies on injection into a reservoir in sedimentary rock which has an impermeable caprock. It is also possible to trap CO2 in igneous rock formations with high magnesium, iron a...

One of the latest CCS projects to begin operating in the United States is the Kemper County Energy Facility in the state of Mississippi. Richard Espoito, the Geosciences, Carbon Utilization and Storage Southern Company, programme manager, presented an up-beat account at the start of the GHGHT-13 conference on Thursday. Richard stressed the modern '...

One of the themes covered by GHGT-13 in Lausanne is the potential of combining CCS and geothermal energy. There are different ways in which geothermal energy might be used. One idea is to inject CO2 into a saline aquifer at one point and then extract heat energy from another location within the same aquifer. Doublet extraction and injection of cool...

The GHGT-13 plenary session on Wednesday 16th November opened with an upbeat assessment of the Quest CO2 storage demonstration site in the Canadian province of Alberta. Tim Wiwchar, who is Shell Canada's Portfolio Manager Heavy Oil, presented a summary of the progress since this flagship project started operating in November 2015. Quest was built o...

 CO2 storage relies on the injection of the gas either via pre-existing wellbores or, in the future, new wells. CO2 is potentially corrosive and in certain conditions can induce rapid cooling. Both conditions are detrimental to wellbores so it's important to understand how these conditions occur and what mitigation options are available. The G...

 The Swiss are making an important commitment to long-term CO2 storage through international collaboration and research. This is notably evident at the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory situated in the Jura Mountains about two hours drive north of Lausanne. This facility has been deliberately constructed within an impermeable shale called the Opalinu...