Geological storage of carbon dioxide: an emerging opportunity

Abstract

Concerns about climate change and the need to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations are driving the development of a lower carbon future. Within this context, carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is gaining momentum as a large-scale option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper reviews the rationale and potential scale of CCS, the status of geological storage options and lessons from the operating In Salah project. CCS is expected to have applications in the oil and gas industry, and other industries, particularly the coal and power sectors. CO2-enhanced oil recovery, depleted oil and gas fields and saline formations are considered the most important geological storage options. Experience with geological storage is being gained at the In Salah project in Algeria. Operating since 2004, it is the world's first industrial-scale project storing CO2 in the water leg of a gas reservoir. A key challenge for wider deployment is for geological storage to be accepted as a safe and effective option, providing long-term CO2 containment, with high integrity. This has several associated technical and regulatory challenges, including site characterization and selection, geological and well integrity risk assessment, performance prediction, the design of appropriate monitoring schemes and handling the closure and post-closure phases. The petroleum industry has the capabilities and know-how to deploy CCS and to manage the associated risks. This lends confidence that CCS will be a viable option and that deployment will help enable a low-carbon future.

Simulation of muon radiography for monitoring CO 2 stored in a geological reservoir

“…It is assumed that background noise and signals will be negligible once a condition is chosen for N hit bar . 6 We consider increasingly large time steps in which muon data is collected, in sequential time periods since first CO 2 injection, as described in Section 5.2. This utilises the relationship between the radial extent of the CO 2 plume (r E ∝ √ t), such that the time intervals correspond to periods under which the radius of the CO 2 plume is approximately constant.…”

“…Current monitoring methods are episodic and require highly skilled personnel to acquire the data. Such technologies include repeat seismic surveys, measuring the subsurface response to electromagnetic waves, measuring specific gravity and monitoring pressure [6]. Any new, and preferably low-cost, technology which is able to provide automated and continuous monitoring will greatly enhance the long-term viability of CCS technologies.…”

Monitoring subsurface CO2 emplacement and security of storage using muon tomography

“…These methods mainly involve repeat seismic surveys, measuring subsurface response to electromagnetic waves, measuring gravity and monitoring pressure (Lumley and Behrens, 1998;Chadwick et al, 2005;Senior et al, 2010). Almost all of these methods are applied episodically, requiring mobilization and demobilization of equipment and teams to measure and report.…”