Published: 05 October 2007
What does CO2 Geological storage really mean?'
Far from adding 'hot air' to the climate change debate, a network of scientists are leading the way on capture and storage of carbon dioxide underground.
CO2GeoNet, the European Network of Excellence on geological storage of carbon dioxide, organised an international training & dialogue workshop aimed at providing information and generating discussion about the technical aspects of geological CO2 storage this week at Salons Hoche, Paris, France.
Capturing CO2 at large industrial units, particularly fossil fuel based power plants, and storing it underground is a top priority in the race to significantly reduce atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases and thus help mitigate climate change and ocean acidification.
The technology has now reached a transition stage between research and worldwide deployment.
By storing CO2 underground, the carbon released from burning coal, oil and gas is returned to where it was extracted from, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.
The workshop programme looked at six key questions which are:
· Where and how much CO2 can we store underground?
· How can we inject large quantities of CO2?
· What is the fate of CO2 in the storage reservoir and are there any related physical and chemical changes?
· Could CO2 leak from the storage reservoir and what would be the effects on humans and ecosystems?
· How can we monitor the storage site at depth and at the surface, and why is this necessary?
· What safety criteria i.e. conditions for safe storage, need to be imposed and respected?
Dr. Nick Riley MBE, Head of Science for Energy at BGS and co-ordinator of CO2GeoNet said:
"The vision is to store CO2, captured from large single point emission sources such as coal-fired power plants, within old oil and gas fields or other geological formations beneath the seabed.
In January 2007, the European Commission stated that by 2020 all new coal-fired plants should include CO2 capture & storage (CCS) technology and existing plants should also follow.
In the Energy White Paper 2007, the UK Government announced its intention to hold a competition to develop the UK's first commercial-scale demonstration of CCS.
A fundamental step for CO2GeoNet is to ensure that key stakeholders understand what is involved. This workshop will provide a very useful opportunity to gain greater understanding and for any questions to be answered".
CO2GeoNet is co-ordinated by the British Geological Survey and comprises 13 leading geotechnical and environmental partner institutes across Europe.
Further information
CO2GeoNet Network of Excellence partners are:
· British Geological Survey, United Kingdom
· Bundesanstalt fur Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Germany
· Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres, France
· Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Denmark
· Herriot-Watt University, United Kingdom
· Institut Francais du Petrole, France
· Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
· Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Norway
· National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, Italy
· International Research Institute of Stavanger, Norway
· SINTEF Petroleum Research, Norway
· Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, The Netherlands
· Universita di Roma "La Sapienza" - Fluid Geochemistry Group, Italy
The British Geological Survey (BGS), a component body of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is the nation's principal supplier of objective, impartial and up-to-date geological expertise and information for decision making for governmental, commercial and individual users.
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