Abstract
One of the options considered to mitigate greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is underground storage of CO<sub>2<sub/>. There is a strong need for enhancing and developing methods that would help throughout the duration life of such underground storage, to ensure the safety and able to monitor the evolution of the injected CO<sub>2<sub/> plume. Among these, geochemical methods can play an important role. Here, we describe results acquired under the research programme “Géocarbone-Monitoring”, partially funded by the French National Research Agency, on the Montmiral natural analogue in South-Eastern France. Other results obtained under the same research programme in the French Massif Central are reported elsewhere in this volume.Spot sampling methods allowing a great geographical coverage and continuous measurements on selected points were undertaken in 2006 and 2007, in order to determine soil gas concentrations and fluxes as well as carbon isotope ratio determinations. One important result is that without any evidence of deep CO<sub>2<sub/> leakage, both CO<sub>2<sub/> concentrations and fluxes appear to be higher than can be explained only by biological activities. Further investigations are thus needed to understand the gas evolution better throughout the year.
Highlights
Underground storage of CO2 is one of the options considered to be realistic for mitigating greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere (e.g. Winthaegen et al, 2005; Holloway et al, 2007; Wildenborg et al, 2009)
Several types of storage sites can be used such as depleted oil or gas reservoirs, saline aquifers and deep brine-filled layers, cavities in salt layers and/or domes, and unmineable coal beds (e.g. Hitchon et al, 1999; Jean-Baptiste and Ducroux, 2003; Gale, 2004; Winthaegen et al, 2005)
Other onshore projects have been launched but not in a EOR/EGR perspective, such as the CO2CRC Otway basin project in Australia (Michael et al, 2009; Urosevic et al, 2009), using a depleted methane reservoir for supercritical CO2 injection, and the Lacq CO2 pilot in France, where injection will be done in a former CH4 field too (Gapillou et al, 2009)
Summary
Underground storage of CO2 is one of the options considered to be realistic for mitigating greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere (e.g. Winthaegen et al, 2005; Holloway et al, 2007; Wildenborg et al, 2009). The feasibility of CO2 geological storage in saline aquifers has been proven by the experience of both CO2 injection in pilot projects (Frio, Ketzin, Nagaoka) and existing commercial operations (Sleipner, Snøhvit, In Salah) (Michael et al, 2009; Nance et al, 2005; Wildenborg et al, 2009). Large-scale operations use the CO2 separated from the extracted fluid to be re-injected into an aquifer (Sleipner: Kongsjorden et al, 1997; Torp and Gale, 2004; Steeneveldt et al, 2006; Winthaegen et al, 2005; Holloway et al, 2007; In Salah, Snøhvit: Michael et al, 2009; Wildenborg et al, 2009)
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