Commercial Carbon Capture And Storage Research Articles

Long range acoustic detection of gas bubbles in a shallow water coastal environment

As the world economy moves to net zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is recognised a mitigation mechanism in the suite of technology options. Liquified CO2 injection into offshore subsea reservoirs will be one of the CCS strategies used. Despite being improbable, CO2 leaks could occur and impact the effectiveness of this CO2 mitigation option and undermine confidence in its use as part of the suite of tools to combat climate change. To satisfy public safety expectations and environmental regulatory requirements, long-term measurement, monitoring, and verification (MM&V) plans that are affordable will be needed as part of any commercial CCS operation. Active acoustic methods are a well-suited technique as they can detect gas bubbles in the water column at extremely low flow rates. A bespoke detection system, the Echosounder Detection of Gas Events (EDGE) was developed with the goals of long-duration monitoring and detection of low flow gas bubble releases at long ranges; the literature suggests flow rates of <2 L min−1 will be readily detectable using active acoustics, well below the upper limits of a release of 1 % of stored CO2 over a 1000 year timeframe proposed by IPCC (2005). The EDGE system was housed on a seafloor lander with a battery powered scientific echosounder connected to a narrow-beam horizontally orientated transducer mounted on a turret that rotates through 360 deg. The effectiveness of the EDGE system was tested in a range of weather conditions during two six-month deployments in ∼ 20 m depth at a proposed CCS storage site, CarbonNet, situated off the coast of Victoria, Australia. Separate experiments with controlled gas releases were conducted at a local site at Hobart, Australia to establish the detection capability at range for low flow rates. These experiments found very small gas-releases (< 2 L min−1) could be detected at ranges of up to 378 m. The ability of long-term deployment of the EDGE at the proposed CCS site and the local experiments establishing range-detection ability have demonstrated that active acoustic systems can meet the dual objectives of sustained and wide-area monitoring as a key part of an aquatic based MM&V framework.

Perspectives of the offshore CCS development in the polish EEZ on a Baltic Sea: insights from ongoing preliminary research for pilot CO2 injection

The key to effectively combatting progressive climate change lies in promptly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), whose concentration continues to rise due to human activities. The European Union (EU) has established legally binding targets, including achieving climate neutrality by 2050, with an intermediate goal of reducing GHG emissions by 55 % by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Poland, one of the major CO2 emitters in Europe, also possesses significant storage potential in terms of projected CO2 capacity within its sedimentary basins. Considering this, the implementation of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology could play a crucial role in Poland's efforts to decarbonize its economy. For several years, the Oil and Gas Institute – National Research Institute (INiG – PIB) has been at the forefront of domestic research activities concerning underground CO2 injection. The involvement dates back to 1996 by pioneering the development of a concept, design, and implementation of one of Europe's earliest industrial installations for reinjecting acid gas, consisting of approximately 80 % CO2 and 20 % H2S, into the reservoir water underlying a productive natural gas field. This facility in Borzęcin operated by PGNiG (now part of ORLEN GROUP), is a unique testing ground where the injection process has been running continuously for 27 years. The research conducted at INiG – PIB has played an important role in identifying appropriate geological structures in Poland with a total storage capacity of 10-15 Gt CO2. Around 90-93 % of the CO2 storage capacity is found in saline aquifers, with a significant portion of approximately 7-10 % identified within mature hydrocarbon fields.Despite recent progress in managing industrial CO2 emissions, the peace of CCS development falls short of meeting the objectives set by the Paris Agreement. The main hindrance lies in the absence of a suitable regulatory framework for CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. Recognizing this challenge, the national offshore operator, Lotos Petrobaltic (LPB), presented in 2021 a Green Paper on CCS development in Poland. This document outlines a set of recommendations for legislative alternations to facilitate the initiation of large-scale, commercial CCS projects within the country. Given the current national regulations and assumptions regarding low social barriers, the most expeditious approach to implementing a First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) large-scale CCS project in Poland seems to involve deploying depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs located at the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) within the Baltic Sea. The LPB, with research and scientific support from INiG – PIB, has launched a program aimed at conducting a preliminary assessment of CO2 injection in Middle Cambrian sandstones. The project is scheduled to begin with a pilot injection into the well-identified, depleted structure of the B3 oil reservoir. Subsequently, it may be expanded to include adjacent hydrocarbon reservoirs and could ultimately encompass the entire Cambrian aquifer.The Cambrian aquifer is characterized by complex tectonics, comprising several blocks separated by fault zones. These fault zones may act as barriers to the propagation of reservoir fluids, as demonstrated by the presence of hydrocarbon traps in the vicinity of some fault zones.The B3 oil field, covering an area of 36,2 km2, is an elongated SW-NE, asymmetric anticline, cut on the west side by an inverted fault zone. The reservoir interval, with an average depth of 1450 meters below sea level comprises of sandstones of the Paradoxides Paradoxissimus (Middle Cambrian Zone) horizon showing a monoclinal dip towards the south-east. The reservoir formation exhibits heterogeneity in both within the vertical profile and the horizontal direction, characterized by a wide range of petrophysical parameters values. According to preliminary assessments, the CO2 storage capacity of the B3 site is estimated to be around 7 Mt CO2. The expansion of CO2 storage to the remaining hydrocarbon fields and the overarching Cambrian aquifer megastructure could potentially increase the total storage capacity to more than 150 Mt. The envisioned CO2 sources include emitters from the chemical industry, where CO2 is a by-product of the fertilizer production process. During the project’s pilot phase, the predicted CO2 injection rate is expected to be between 25-50 kt CO2 per year. As the project transitions to the upscaled phase, the injection rate is projected to increase significantly, reaching approximately 2 Mt CO2 per year. The transportation of CO2 for full-scale injection is planned through multimodal means, considering potential synergies with the multimodal CO2 Terminal in Gdansk, which is being planned under the ECO2CEE project (formerly EU CCS Interconnector). A pipeline connection between the offshore storage area and the CO2 Terminal is under consideration.The main research problems addressed within the INiG – PIB and LPB joint initiative include determining the sequestration potential of the Cm2pp aquifer, assessing the feasibility of the CO2-EOR process, recognizing the effects of injected CO2/reservoir rock/caprock interactions on injectivity, geomechanical parameters, and sealing integrity, as well as investigating CO2-induced corrosion of steel components in the transport and injection plant.

4-dimensional seismic interpretation to monitor CO2 injection in carbon capture &amp; storage project of Sleipner field, North Sea, Norway using inversion method

Sleipner is the world's first commercial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, located off the coast of Norway, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions by capturing CO2 and storing it in a utsira saline aquifer sandstone reservoir capable of storing up to 600 billion tonnes of CO2. The CO2 injection in these projects increases year after year, so the CO2 development must be monitored to see the distribution pattern and its implications for the reservoir zone. The purpose of this research is to calculate and model the CO2 distribution resulting from acoustic impedance inversion using 4-dimensional inversion, to calculate the repeatability from seismic data between baseline and monitor using the Normalized Root Mean Square attribute. In the processing, baseline and monitor data must be matched in the overburden zone using a cross-equalization process so that the inversion process. The results revealed a correlation between the two seismic data sets (baseline and monitor) with the classification of Reasonable Repeatability, and CO2 distribution in a securely stored reservoir that spreads laterally and does not leak.

Six principles to guide large-scale carbon capture and storage development

Despite considerable effort, there are few large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects operating commercially in the world today. The importance of CCS to the world's long-term decarbonization goals, however, has never been greater. The long-term outlooks of the United Nations and individual governments all place considerable reliance on the broad adoption of CCS technology for both power-generation and industrial applications. Recent support includes the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S., the U.K.'s Energy Security Bill, and the investments targeted in China's 14th Five-Year Plan. Nevertheless, a “reduction gap” remains between these contributions and governments' goals. We describe six general principles to guide the development of large-scale commercial CCS infrastructure to bridge the reduction gap by capitalizing on these opportunities. We assert that these principles are necessary to help CCS move into widespread large-scale use, and touch on steps that researchers, governments, regulators, and developers can take to encourage the adoption of this important technology. These principles include adopting a portfolio approach to development, encouraging the development of a clean-energy commons, recognizing the value of information and mitigating uncertainty, acknowledging the absence of firm legislative guidance, affirming the roles of multiple stakeholders, and ensuring that basic research can maintain a concurrent track with commercial development.

First North Dakota CCS Project: Advancing North Dakota Ethanol Economics

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in partnership since 2016 with North Dakota ethanol producer Red Trail Energy (RTE), the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC), the U.S. Department of Energy, and Trimeric Corporation, has determined that commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technically viable option for the significant reduction of CO2 emissions from ethanol production at the RTE site near Richardton, North Dakota. In addition, CCS may be economically viable for RTE should pathways be approved for this lower-carbon-intensity ethanol in developing low-carbon fuel (LCF) programs. Current activities are allowing project partners to move closer to creating the first integrated CCS effort in North Dakota. Capture Facility Moves Closer to Construction. Project partner, Trimeric Corporation, developed process flow diagrams (PFDs), heat and material balances, piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), and utilities documents specific to the RTE project site to prepare a bid package for potential vendor response. Three vendor bids for the potential liquefied CO2 system were received and evaluated. A CO2 capture process design package document was developed, compiling the PFDs, heat and material balances, and P&IDs, including recommendations from the vendor bids received. Geophysical Survey Provides More Clarity of the Subsurface. An 8-square-mile 3-D geophysical survey was conducted at the RTE site near Richardton, North Dakota, in March 2019. Data processing and interpretation from the seismic acquisition survey have been completed. Results were incorporated into the geologic modeling simulation efforts from the first stage of the project to determine recommended locations for the future stratigraphic test. Baseline Near-Surface Monitoring Begins. The EERC is investigating seasonal changes related to the natural carbon cycle of regional soil and groundwater in the study region near Richardton, North Dakota. Groundwater- and soil gas-monitoring activities included meter readings on location as well as sample collection for a full suite of laboratory analyses to establish natural water and soil gas conditions through several seasons. Three sampling events were conducted in May, August, and November 2019. Preparing the First North Dakota Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI Permit Application. North Dakota’s Class VI Program requires all owners/operators applying to inject CO2 for the purpose of geologic storage to obtain a storage facility permit, a permit to drill, and a permit to operate prior to commencement of injection activities. The storage facility permit covers multiple design aspects such as technical evaluation, area-of-review delineation, a corrective action plan, an emergency and remedial response plan, a casing and cementing program, a testing and monitoring plan, a well-plugging plan, and a postinjection site care and facility closure plan. Draft plans are currently under development using existing regional data available and the recently acquired seismic survey results. The permit-to-drill application for a stratigraphic test hole was also prepared, submitted, and approved in December 2019. Results from the test hole will provide the necessary data to finalize the storage facility permit for submittal. Building CCS Support in North Dakota Through Outreach. Significant outreach activities for this rural North Dakota project have included two community open houses, presentations at local commission meetings, and maintaining up-to-date materials to communicate project information and progress. The first open house was organized and held in March 2019. About 30 community visitors were hosted, including participation by the EERC, RTE, and North Dakota permitting agents; feedback was generally positive and supportive for the project. RTE and the EERC also presented at county and city commission meetings several times throughout 2019. Outreach materials were prepared such as a RTE CCS fact sheet, Geophysical Survey FAQs and Sampling FAQs, and Geophysical Survey Results. A follow-up open house was conducted in December 2019. Next Steps in 2020: Drilling a Stratigraphic Test Hole. A next step in development toward implementation is to drill a stratigraphic test hole at the RTE site by summer 2020. The EERC will provide technical assistance to conduct reservoir characterization through analysis of collected core and interpretation of downhole tests from the drilling effort. Downhole monitoring technology will also be installed to begin collection of baseline data. These activities will generate the necessary scientific data for CO2 storage predictions and development of the numerous plans (e.g., monitoring, testing, reporting, etc.) required to finalize the first North Dakota Class VI Program permit application.

Carbon Capture and Storage in the United States: Perceptions, preferences, and lessons for policy

Although Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies can potentially play an important role in climate change mitigation efforts, commercial CCS projects are still rare. Knowledge about the technical challenges of these technologies is rapidly advancing, but the challenges related to their public acceptance are still underinvestigated. Here we try to close this research gap by investigating public perceptions of CCS and public attitudes towards policies to scale up these technologies in the United States, where most existing industrial-scale CCS projects are operating. Based on a demographically representative sample of US residents, we find that awareness of CCS is very low. Using a conjoint experiment, we show that policies that outlaw the construction of new coal- and gas-fired power plants without CCS find higher public support than CCS subsidies and increases in taxes on unabated fossil fuel power generation. Public support decreases with rising costs of CCS deployment and decreasing minimal distance requirements of CCS plants from residential areas. Our results provide insights into the political feasibility of a large-scale deployment of CCS and show that specific policy design choices play an important role in influencing public support for policies to scale up these technologies.

Integrating Carbon Capture and Storage with Ethanol Production for Potential Economic Benefit

The Energy & Environmental Research Center, in partnership with North Dakota ethanol producer Red Trail Energy (RTE), the North Dakota Industrial Commission, and the U.S. Department of Energy, assessed the technical and economic prefeasibility of integrating carbon capture and storage (CCS) with ethanol production. Results indicate that commercial CCS is a technically viable option for the significant reduction of CO2 emissions from ethanol production at the RTE site. In addition, CCS may be economically viable for RTE should pathways emerge for low carbon-intensity ethanol in developing low-carbon fuel programs.

Enabling a CCS industry through research at the CO2CRC National Otway Research Facility

The CO2CRC Otway Research Facility is Australia’s first demonstration of carbon capture and storage. The Otway Research Facility was established in 2007 to demonstrate scientific, technical, legal, regulatory and social aspects of successfully operating a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The facility is also globally unique as it has its own CO2 production well (Buttress-1) on site. For more than a decade, experiments with strong national and international collaboration at the Otway Research Facility continue to provide strong value to an emerging global CCS industry, not only due to the activities taking place, but also because of the specific scientific, social, political and regulatory environments at the time of execution. The Otway facility has one of world’s most comprehensive characterisation, injection, monitoring and verification programs, and its successful project outcomes have not only met and helped further guide CCS legislation within Australia, but also assisted underpinning the regulatory and business case for large commercial CCS projects in Australia and overseas. In addition, the Otway Capture Facility is a hub for CO2 capture research for high pressure and high CO2 content natural gases. Tests are being conducted using adsorption and three different types of membrane-based gas separation technologies. These technologies have the potential to become available for natural gas processing on production platforms and floating production storage and offloading vessels.

Negative emissions technologies and carbon capture and storage to achieve the Paris Agreement commitments.

How will the global atmosphere and climate be protected? Achieving net-zero CO2 emissions will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce current GHG emission rates, and negative emissions technology (NET) to recapture previously emitted greenhouse gases. Delivering NET requires radical cost and regulatory innovation to impact on climate mitigation. Present NET exemplars are few, are at small-scale and not deployable within a decade, with the exception of rock weathering, or direct injection of CO2 into selected ocean water masses. To keep warming less than 2°C, bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) has been modelled but does not yet exist at industrial scale. CCS already exists in many forms and at low cost. However, CCS has no political drivers to enforce its deployment. We make a new analysis of all global CCS projects and model the build rate out to 2050, deducing this is 100 times too slow. Our projection to 2050 captures just 700 Mt CO2 yr-1, not the minimum 6000 Mt CO2 yr-1 required to meet the 2°C target. Hence new policies are needed to incentivize commercial CCS. A first urgent action for all countries is to commercially assess their CO2 storage. A second simple action is to assign a Certificate of CO2 Storage onto producers of fossil carbon, mandating a progressively increasing proportion of CO2 to be stored. No CCS means no 2°C.This article is part of the theme issue 'The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'.

What Have We Learnt About CO2 Leakage in the Context of Commercial-Scale CCS?

The viability of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) depends on the reliable containment of injected CO2 in the subsurface. Robust and cost-effective approaches to measure monitor and verify CO2 containment are required to demonstrate that CO2 has not breached the reservoir, and to comply with CCS regulations. This includes capability to detect and quantify any potential leakage to surface. It is useful to consider the range of possible leak rates for potential CO2 leak pathways from an intended storage reservoir to surface to inform the design of effective monitoring approaches. However, in the absence of a portfolio of leakage from engineered CO2 stores we must instead learn from industrial and natural analogues, numerical models, and laboratory and field experiments that have intentionally released CO2 into the shallow subsurface to simulate a CO2 leak to surface. We collated a global dataset of measured or estimated CO2 flux (CO2 emission per unit area) and CO2 leak rate from industrial and natural analogues and field experiments. We then examined the dataset to compare emission and flux rates and seep style, and consider the measured emission rates in the context of commercial scale CCS operations. We find that natural and industrial analogues show very wide variation in the scale of CO2 emissions, and tend to be larger than leaks simulated by CO2 release experiments. For all analogue types (natural, industrial, or experiment) the emission rates show greater variation between sites than CO2 flux rates. Quantitation approaches are non-standardized, and that measuring and reporting both the CO2 flux and seep rate is rare as it remains challenging, particularly in marine environments. Finally, we observe that CO2 fluxes tend to be associated with particular emission characteristics (vent, diffuse, or water-associated). We propose that characteristics could inform the design and performance requirements for CO2 leak monitoring approaches tailored to detect specific emission styles.

The Evolution of European CCS Policy

The European Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry is still grasping for an effective policy structure which will support deployment of commercial CCS projects. This paper will consider the current context of CCS policy given three significant developments: (a) the agreement in 2014 for a technology neutral 2030 EU emissions reduction target; (b) a binding commitment at COP21 in Paris, Dec 2015, for a global emissions reduction target; (c) the collapse of the UK's CCS Commercialisation Programme in Nov 2015.The period 2010-2015 saw continued stagnation in the European CCS industry, with a series of projects proposed but then subsequently cancelled. This hints as three problems (1) an industry which is weak in communicating why CCS is important, and failed to engage a wider stakeholder base; (2) incumbent governments which are not willing to fund the initially high costs of the first CCS projects; (3) weak market based structures which force industrial consortia to rely on government subsidy, thus leaving projects vulnerable to political forces.The tension within the UK's Commercialisation Programme could still offer lessons for other potential CCS projects in Europe; and inform policy developments at the UK and European level. Namely (i) payment flows between the emitter / capture plant to the transport & storage provider, and the risk apportionment between those partners; (ii) the cost-benefit of oversized infrastructure and the challenges of a first project to finance the bulk of these costs.A recent report to the UK government on CCS recommended state-owned companies delivering all aspects of CCS, but such a recommendation makes it all too easy for a centre-right party focussed on smaller government and tight expenditure to dismiss CCS as “too difficult”. An alternative would be normal commercial and market arrangements for the power & capture section; and a regulated monopoly for the transport & storage infrastructure, backed by the state for risk and liabilities.

Technology Focus: EOR Operations

Technology Focus A seminal event last year was the Climate Change Conference in Paris, where participating countries agreed to reduce their carbon output “as soon as possible” and to do their best to keep global warming “to well below 2°C.” History will be the judge of whether 2015 turns out to be a turning point in the journey to reducing global warming. There is still a long way to go to turn good intention into substantive action if the world is to transition to a low-carbon economy and ultimately to one of net zero carbon emissions. This challenge is all the tougher given increasing demand for energy, with the International Energy Agency expecting growth by one-third between 2013 and 2040. In the US, there has been a gradual shift in the balance of enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) production between thermal and gas-injection projects. Since 2006, production from gas injection has outstripped that from thermal, and it is continuing to grow. Worldwide, gas-injection EOR is established as a successful, robust, commercial technology deployed in a wide range of operating conditions from onshore to shallow offshore and, more recently, deep water. A key differentiator of gas injection, compared with other EOR techniques targeting light oils, is the ability to overcome some of the variability in reservoir geology by recycling back-produced injectant. The deployment of gas-injection EOR is limited by the availability of gas; where there is access to a gas market, the use of hydrocarbon gas is generally not attractive, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is not widely available at acceptable prices. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a mechanism that can facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy, and so something of a virtuous circle might exist. The use of CO2 captured for greenhouse-gas-management reasons can enable more-widespread gasinjection EOR. CO2 EOR can provide secure CO2 storage and additional revenues, accelerating the implementation of carbon capture and ultimately the building of a commercial CCS industry that can help realize the aspiration of net zero carbon emission fossil fuels. Even though conditions in the industry remain very tough at present, EOR is expected to be increasingly important in the future, with the possibility of significant further uptake of gas-injection EOR linked to the climate-change agenda. As ever, SPE continues to have a key role in disseminating best practices and project learnings. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 169513 Case Study: Steam-Injection Step-Rate Test Run in the Shallow Low- Permeability Diatomite Formation, Orcutt Oil Field, Careaga Lease, Santa Barbara County, California by Ramon Elias, Santa Maria Energy, et al. SPE 174700 On the Road to 60% Oil Recovery by Implementing Miscible Hydrocarbon WAG in a North African Field by I. Maffeis, Eni, et al. SPE 177697 Use of an Integrated Approach To Optimize a Congested Brownfield Facilities Development by C. Roberts, S2V Consulting, et al. SPE 174656 Nano Spherical Polymer Pilot in a Mature 18 °API Sandstone Reservoir Waterflood in Alberta, Canada, by Randy Irvine, Harvest Operations, et al.

Effective risk communication and CCS: the road to success in Europe

Over the past ten years or so, there have been multiple attempts to site and build carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in Europe, North America and elsewhere. To date, most of those attempts have not been successful. In Europe, for example, there are currently no commercial CCS facilities in operation. There are a number of reasons for this, ranging from lack of political will, the collapsing price of CO2, lack of commercial drivers to capture and store CO2, and public opposition to the proposed facilities. There have been several case studies examining the communication challenges associated with the siting of CCS facilities. Up till now, most of this research has been carried out by climate change or carbon policy experts as well as social researchers rather than scientists representing the wider risk communication community, aside from some notable exceptions. This study does the opposite by examining CCS from a broader risk communication perspective. It provides a brief overview of risk communication theory in order to situate some of the findings of the CCS communication research, and then, it makes some recommendations on how the siting of CCS facilities could be improved including the importance of trust, proactive communication and early stakeholder involvement. In conclusion, this study notes that if the science associated with the technology is communicated in the correct manner and if the key risk communication recommendations are adhered to, then the siting of future CCS facilities should be successful.

The investigation of CO2 storage potential in the Algoa basin in South Africa

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as one of the technical approaches that can be used to mitigate global climate change in fossil fuel dominated countries such as South Africa. Approximately 90% of primary energy in South Africa is derived from fossil fuels, with coal providing 92% of electricity production in the country. The South African Centre of Carbon Capture and Storage (SACCCS) was established in 2009 (by the South African government with the assistance from international governments and industry) to investigate the potential of CCS in the country. SACCCS is addressing its mandate in line with the South African CCS Roadmap, which has been endorsed by the South African government. SACCCS's role in the South African CCS Roadmap is as follows:2004Assessment of the potential for CCS in South Africa2010Development of a South African CO2 Geological Storage Atlas2017Commencement of a Pilot CO2 Storage Project (10,000 - 50,000t CO2 stored)2020Facilitate the commencement of a CCS demonstration plant (in the order of 100,000t CO2/year)2025+Inform the implementation of commercial CCS deployment (over 1,000,000t CO2/year)Ongoing:Provide support to other CCS activities in South Africa The results from the assessment of CCS potential in South Africa were summarised and documented in the Atlas (which was published in 2010) with the majority of storage potential occurring in Mesozoic basins of South Africa. There is 150 Gt of theoretical storage capacity is identified, of which 98% occurs offshore. After the completion of the Atlas the next stage on the Roadmap, the Pilot CO2 Storage Project (PCSP), has become the focus of SACCCS activities. The scope and available funding of the PCSP led to the decision to focus on the onshore portions of the Algoa and Zululand basins as possible sedimentary basins for the PCSP programme. This paper will discuss the progress associated with the ongoing investigation of CO2 storage potential in the Algoa basin which forms the onshore extension of the offshore Outeniqua basin. The middle Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) to lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian) Uitenhage Group constitutes the syn-rift basin-fill succession with stratigraphy dominated by the fluviatile Kirkwood Formation, and shallow marine Sundays River Formation. Due to limited and reasonably poor data availability, the need for new data and more tests on existing data to confirm any potential storage areas/sites was cited. SACCCS is now planning additional analysis of data to potentially allow for reinterpretation of the older data. The results from the analysis and reinterpretation will inform the next stage of the PCSP.

Media Coverage of Four Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Projects in Germany: Analysis of 1,115 Regional Newspaper Articles

The results presented in this article illustrate how the local public was informed on specific Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects by regional newspapers in Germany. The analyzed articles were published in four daily newspapers within the German regions where four CO2 onshore storage projects took place or have been planned. The articles were published between 2007 and 2011. In total, 1,115 newspaper articles about the four CO2 onshore storage projects were gathered and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our results showed that the regional media coverage of CCS projects in Germany reached peaks in 2009 and 2010. The main topics changed within the media coverage and it is worth mentioning to what extent the media coverage of CCS disregarded topics with regard to economic, technical, ecological or scientific aspects on CCS. The overall evaluation of CCS within the articles is negative. While commercial CCS projects received more negative evaluation across newspaper articles; opinions about the research and industry project Ketzin were more neutral. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of GHGT.

A standardized Approach to Multi-criteria Assessment of CCS Chains

For a commercial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain to be successful, it must satisfy a whole range of requirements: technical, economic, environmental, safety, and societal. A comprehensive, understandable and reproducible assessment of CCS projects is a complex task due to several reasons: wide range of actors and factors involved, substantial differences in the type and nature of both actors and factors, and numerous associated uncertainties. In this paper, a standardised methodology is described and illustrated on a few examples of relatively simple case studies. The proposed methodology provides means and tools for evaluation of several economic, environmental, and in the future also risk associated criteria and thereby enables selection of the most promising options for CCS. The methodology will also help to reduce the uncertainty by improving understanding of the most important dependencies and trends for the investigated key performance indicators as enlightened by the case studies examples. It could also help to design efficient incentives and measures to stimulate realization of CCS by identifying and evaluating the most important non-technical factors affecting the CCS chain viability.

Total Evaluation on CCS System Against Geological Uncertainty and Troubles

Operations research is required to carry the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) efficiently and economically against uncertainty in geological conditions and system troubles to terminated CO2 storage. Firstly, CCS system performance has been investigated by numerical simulations for estimation error in permeability distribution and formation fracture pressure of the reservoir, and economic evaluations on troubles assumed to make terminate CO2 injection. The CO2 buffer, such as sphere gas tanks, should be installed to store CO2 on the process after its capture at a plant. If CO2 buffer is not included in the system, captured CO2 may be released to the atmosphere when a trouble on transportation or injection processes occurs. The larger size of CO2 buffer volume can be more able to withstand against long-term trouble. However, the larger buffer volume needs larger initial cost for constructing of the buffer. In this study, several simulations have been conducted on its system performance with and without CO2 buffer in the system. Optimum CO2 buffer volume has been presented based on economical evaluations for a commercial CCS model.

An Evaluation Study on CCS System against Geological Uncertainty and Troubles

Operations research is required to carry the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) efficiently and economically against uncertainty in geological conditions and system troubles to terminate CO2 storage. In this study, CCS systemperformance has been investigated by numerical simulations for estimation error in permeability distribution of the layer, and economic evaluations on troubles assumed to make terminate CO2injection. The CO2buffer, such assphere gas tanks, should be installed to store CO2onthe process after its capture. If CO2 buffer is not included in the system, captured CO2 may be released to the atmosphere when a trouble on transportation or injection processes occurs.Thelarger size of CO2 buffer volume can be more able to withstand against long-term trouble.However, the larger buffer volumeneeds higher initial cost for constructing. Several simulations have been conductedon its system performance with and without CO2 buffer in the system. OptimumCO2 buffer volume has been presented based on economical evaluations for a commercial CCS model.

The Laboratory Simulation and Field Verification of Seasonal Soil-respired CO2 flux at a Proposed CCS Project Site

As part of any terrestrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, a risk-driven Measurement Monitoring and Verification (MMV) plan may include the measurement of soil gas and related surface CO2 efflux in order to determine the natural (or baseline) concentration range and variation of CO2. Subsequent measurements of these parameters may then act as a measure of stored CO2 containment and conformance during operational, closure and post-closure phases. There are several practical challenges involved in the collection of representative soil-respired CO2 efflux measurements. These include (i) the assessment of natural baseline variations of soil-respired CO2 efflux across potentially large areas expected for commercial CCS operations, (ii) even if field measurements of soil- respired CO2 are recorded over one season or several seasonal cycles, the full concentration and CO2 flux range may not be captured due to reliance upon environmental (i.e. climate) conditions prevalent during field surveys, and (iii) when field based soil CO2 flux measurements are taken, climatic and environmental conditions are likely to change throughout the day, resulting in a number of dislocated flux measurements taken under different conditions. Ideally, it would be useful to be able to carry out an initial field survey measurements, collect soil samples at a project site and develop a simulated baseline in the laboratory under controlled conditions, reducing the seasonal baseline survey duration from one or two years down to several weeks of simulation supported by field verification. Soil cores and bulk material from each soil horizon at selected locations were sampled from the previously proposed Heartland Area Redwater Project (HARP) near Edmonton, Alberta. Soil columns were reconstituted in the laboratory and subjected to a range of temperature and moisture conditions similar to those expected for the CCS project area over a seasonal cycle. Efflux data were directly compared to field-based measurements collected over a 12 month period under a range of climatic conditions. Comparisons between laboratory simulations and field data suggest a strong temperature-efflux correlation consistent with many studies related to the carbon cycle and ecosystem productivity. It is suggested that the simulation of environmental conditions using soils from a CCS area of review may be a useful tool for the prediction of the range of CO2 efflux expected as a function of soil characteristics and environmental conditions, thereby accelerating baseline studies, establishing the range of CO2 efflux to guide monitoring strategies and for the facilitation and validation of remote sensing data in support of large scale CCS site characterization.

Creating a Sequestration Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing Program

Around the world, research and validation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is taking place through demonstration projects. Valuable experience in developing, implementing, and operating CCS projects is being gained. Knowledge shared from operating CCS projects is critical to understanding the technological aspects and non-technical implications of CCS. Utilizing experiences gained furthers best practices and facilitates commercial implementation of CCS by building capacity among scientists, project developers, and operators.The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), in collaboration with the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), has created an international CCS capacity building and knowledge-sharing program in Champaign, Illinois USA. The Sequestration Training and Education Program (STEP) is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to provide knowledge sharing and capacity building opportunities at all levels. STEP works to stimulate economic recovery and development by training personnel for work in conjunction with commercial CCS projects. Additionally, STEP works with national and international professional organizations and regional experts to leverage existing training opportunities and provide stand-alone training. STEP seeks to build capacity for CCS technology and knowledge sharing through quality educational experiences including regional, national and international exchange programs. STEP programs include knowledge sharing opportunities designed to further the understanding of the technical, political and societal concepts associated with CCS.STEP educational programs are built on the solid foundation of research being conducted through the ISGS and MGSC in the Midwestern region of the United States. Programs are based on providing hands-on learning experiences and information sharing on CCS, through project level experience gained through the MGSC Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (Decatur, Illinois USA), Illinois Industrial CCS Project (Decatur, Illinois USA), Taylorville Energy Center (Taylorville, Illinois USA), and others. This unique research collaboration allows for the creation of knowledge sharing and capacity building programs that draw on CCS experts with pilot-scale and demonstration- scale, project-specific experience to develop conferences, short courses, brown-bag lectures and workshops to meet diverse training needs. A key program focus for STEP is to ensure that the multiple disciplines required for successful CCS operations have an appreciation for the contributions required from experts in multiple facets of permit development, engineering, geology, geophysics, hydrology, drilling and completion, surface facilities development to ensure a successful project. The development of the STEP center, capacity building and knowledge sharing experiences, and collaborations will be discussed.