| 31/08/2005 - Scottish Carbon Storage Research Group Launched |
A research partnership, which will use skills and technology developed to support the oil and gas industry, has been established to investigate the storage of carbon dioxide in underground reservoirs. The Edinburgh-based Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage Research, funded by The Scottish Higher Education Council (SHEFC), Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, will support research focused on the global warming problem of carbon dioxide emissions. The four year SHEFC award of £1,399,815 will use the oil related research skill base of The Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt and the School of Geological Sciences at University of Edinburgh to investigate issues involved in injecting carbon dioxide for long-term storage in subsurface structures like deep saline aquifers, oil and gas reservoirs and deep coal seams.
The Centre will investigate various subsurface storage options that are targeted at contributing to reducing world wide carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, currently at a level of around 25 billion tons (Gt) of CO2 per year. According to IEA figures storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers could lock away 400 to 10,000 Gt, in oil reservoirs 920 Gt and in coal structures 40 Gt.
The challenge for Centre researchers will be to use oil reservoir simulation software and laboratory methods to model various CO2 storage scenarios and investigate the behaviour of these processes, which aim to lock the global warming gas away for thousands of years, as compared to oil reservoir behaviour for around 30 years.
Carbon dioxide injection into oil reservoirs is a long established technique for improving oil recovery in on-shore oil fields. However it is not proven for offshore fields and the expertise and facilities in the Centre's partner laboratories will be used for investigating such techniques to apply in offshore oil sectors like the North Sea.
Monitoring and verification of stored carbon dioxide is an important issue for the general public, government and other stakeholders and the Centre will examine the use and development of techniques like seismic, geochemical and other techniques to monitor the stored gas behaviour and ensure that the storage structure provides an effective seal to prevent escape of the carbon dioxide.
An important dimension of the Centre in relation to this global issue will be interaction with other groups across the world who are also building up their research effort in this issue, and indeed the British Geological Survey, which has a broad and important national subsurface role and has been active in carbon dioxide storage for a number of years at its centre in Keyworth, is also a partner in the initiative.
The Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage Research members will also be working with colleagues in ECOSSE, the Edinburgh Collaborative in Subsurface Science and Engineering, a Joint Research Institute, providing a strategic opportunity for Scotland to enhance its existing strong subsurface research and education. Heriot-Watt's Professor Adrian Todd, Project Manager for SCCS, said, "The major support of SHEFC to this carbon dioxide emission reduction initiative will enable researchers in Scotland to be significant participants in the international research necessary to contribute to what is probably one of the world's greatest technical and social challenges."
For more information please contact:
Caroline Dempster
Press Officer
0131 451 3443
C.m.l.dempster@hw.ac.uk |
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