Monitoring Network meeting in Traverse City

The 12th Monitoring Network meeting concluded on Thursday 15 June after three days of the latest updates on monitoring technology developments and applications, healthy discussions, a group exercise, and a field trip to the MRCSP project. Many thanks to Battelle and Core Energy for hosting the meeting. It was so clear how monitoring has advanced and is evolving from the early R&D projects to application now at commercial-scale projects. The learning and experiences from the early projects has enabled more refined, optimised and reduced level of monitoring at larger projects, resulting in more cost-effective monitoring overall. This was seen from the SECARB Cranfield project to Petra Nova, from IBDP to ICCS Project at Decatur, and at Quest which has learnt from across the USA's RSCP projects. We also saw collaborative developments offshore, UK and EU with Japan, and USA with Japan. Playing a central role in these technology transfers and collaborations is the IEAGHG Monitoring Network, where much cross-fertilization is facilitated. These developments also demonstrate the value and resultant benefits from US government and EU and UK funding into monitoring R,D&D. As a backdrop to the meeting, the same week saw new funding announced by US DOE in a call for further offshore and monitoring developments.

A theme for this Monitoring Network meeting was learning from oil and gas operations. This was successful by design from presentations and discussions, but the learning turned out to go both ways, thanks to the healthy and inquisitive participation by oil and gas industry companies, some of them new to IEAGHG Monitoring Network meetings, some of them sponsoring the meeting.

In terms of offshore CCS, new at this meeting were developments in offshore sensors and their deployment systems, including the sister vessel of the UK's famous Boaty McBoatface AUV, prompting a suggestion that the CCS version could be named Carbon McCarbonface.

Overall, another productive IEAGHG experts meeting. A report of the meeting will be published in due course.