CO Geonet Highlights

The Newsletter of the European Network of

Excellence on the Geological Storage of CO2

CO2 GeoNet Highlights

lssue No.9 November 2016

CO GeoNet will be Talk to us! 2 present at: Ambitious commitments for global decar- CTCN (Climate Technology Centre and bonisation pledged at the 2015 UNFCCC Network) membership and aims to use climate summit in Paris will require large this mechanism to offer advice to deve- reductions in CO2 emissions not only in loping countries. the energy sector, but also in carbon in- CO2GeoNet is a scientifi c body able to tensive industry (such as cement, iron answer your questions, clarify doubts and steel, paper and pulp, refi neries and share knowledge. This autumn there etc.). Storing CO2 deep underground will be the opportunity to meet us at in carefully selected locations offers the three most prominent international the only currently available technolo- events. Representatives from CO2GeoNet gy to help these industries to meet the will be present at the COP22 in Marrakesh, requirements and to allow for future Morocco, the GHGT-13 conference in economic growth. This means that CO2 Lausanne, Switzerland and the AGU Fall geological storage will be as important Meeting in San Francisco, USA. Please, in developed countries as it will be in less see our activities in the table below and developed countries. CCS (CO2 Capture visit our website where you can fi nd in- and Storage) technology is a viable, formation and the latest news on the proven and safe mitigation measure as advancement of CO2 geological storage. demonstrated at the Sleipner fi eld in the

Norwegian North Sea where CO2 has Marjeta Car, been injected for the past 20 years for Leader of Dissemination activities in permanent storage. CO2GeoNet

The CO2GeoNet Association has a wealth of experience in CO2 geological storage research. As a not-for-proﬁ t network with over 300 researchers from 19 countries, we are the largest scientiﬁ c community in this particular field in the world.

CO2GeoNet’s mission is to provide scien- tiﬁ c advice, expertise, training and capacity building to all interested parties, in- cluding regulators, local communities and the general public. As a UNFCCC accredited non-governmental organisation, we provide multidisciplinary and independent advice to all those who need it. CO2GeoNet was recently awarded ln this issue:

• Talk to us! • ENOS - New exciting research initiative • GeoEnergy Test Bed - progress with characterisation • Sulcis summer school on CCS technologies • ECAC Symposium on adaptation and mitigation measures New exciting research initiative

ENOS, another initiative of CO2GeoNet 1) Developing, testing and demon- c. Ensuring that calculated storage ca- has been launched: Enabling Onshore strating in the ﬁ eld, at pilot and experi- pacities are sufﬁ ciently reliable and also

CO2 Storage in Europe – ENOS started ment sites, key technologies specifi cally affordable to verify, which is needed to offi cially on September 1st 2016. The adapted to onshore applications; enable investments and the deployment project is fi nanced through European Re- 2) Integrating CO2 geological storage of CCS at industrial scale; search & Development Programme Hori- into the socio-economic fabric of the d. Integrating activities related to geo- zon 2020, has a budget of 12.5M€ and concerned territories by involving the logical storage of CO2 into the local econo- will last for 4 years. The project draws local population; mic framework, so that the benefi ts are together 29 organisations from 17 coun- 3) Contributing to the creation of a also refl ected at the local level, which is tries. It has been endorsed by the Euro- favourable environment for onshore vital for commercialisation of CCS; pean Energy Research Alliance on Carbon storage across Europe through know- e. Engaging the local population in the dioxide Capture and Storage Joint Pro- ledge-sharing, education, and support storage projects from the early planning gramme - EERA CCS JP. for new pilot and demonstration CC(U)S phase, without whom project develop- projects. ment is unimaginable. ENOS will tackle the most urgent issues to enable onshore CO2 storage in Europe. The main identifi ed hurdles CCS is facing Practical experiments under real-life con-

Storing CO2 onshore, relatively close to onshore that will be addressed concern: ditions will be conducted at the Hontomin the emission points, would contribute to a. Obtaining additional practical expe- Technology Platform in Spain, at the Geo- reducing the costs of CCS and help energy rience to demonstrate further that in- energy Testbed in the UK and the Sulcis producers and other CO2 intensive indus- jection operations onshore can be run Fault Lab in Italy. Additional site studies tries to manage their CO2 emissions local- safely, efﬁ ciently while protecting the will be performed at Q16Maas in the ly, thus building public conﬁ dence in CCS local environment; Netherlands, LBR-1 in the Czech Republic as a powerful mitigation option that can b. Demonstrating our capacity to un- and at the Sulcis Pilot in Italy. also contribute to local economic growth. derstand, detect and manage leakage and/or other potential risks, which is ENOS strives for accelerating the deploy-

ENOS aims to develop CO2 storage on- imperative to prove long-term safety ment of CCS, which can only be performed shore in Europe by: and to obtain regulatory permits; in close cooperation with industrial

Map showing countries in which ENOS partners are located (blue), together with the locations of pilot sites and ﬁ eld laboratories (yellow) partners, thus industrial parties will be invited to provide input to ENOS.

Through different activities the out- comes will be disseminated through a comprehensive training and education programme, end-user committees, international collaboration at workshops and conferences. The CO2GeoNet annual Open Forum in Venice (next edition scheduled to 8 – 10 May, 2017) will be a great opportunity to discover the project in detail and will open the ﬂ oor for a dialogue amongst interested stakeholders and researchers.

This is the beginning of a big adventure!

Stay tuned to CO2GeoNet’s information channels – newsletter, website and our annual Open Forum to ﬁ nd out the latest news.

Marie Gastine, BRGM, France ENOS work package (WP) structure Marjeta Car, GEOINZ, Slovenia

Planned dissemination activities for speciﬁ c audiences

GeoEnergy Test Bed – progress with site characterisation

The GeoEnergy Test Bed (GTB), a ﬁ eld November 2016 with funding from laboratory initiated by the University of the UK Energy Research Accelerator Nottingham and the British Geological (http://www.era.ac.uk/). This will include Survey was introduced in the November one cored well to allow laboratory

2015 issue of the CO2GeoNet newsletter. testing of the aquifer and seal prop- Since then, two geological characterisa- erties. When completed, the GTB will tion wells have been drilled and shallow include an array of boreholes drilled to geophysical surveys have been carried different depths. Sensor technologies out. The wells confi rmed the presence will be used (both above and below of water-bearing fractures and thin ground) to study the rocks and the fl ow sand-rich layers in the Mercia Mudstone and properties of underground fl uids Group as well as the thick (>40 m) through natural pathways. Helsby Sandstone aquifer (equivalent to part of the offshore Bunter Group). The next phase of drilling will start in Ceri J. Vincent, BGS, UK Sulcis Summer school on CCS technologies

The fourth International Sulcis Summer School on CCS Tech- nologies (from June 28th to July 1st 2016) was very well at- tended by students, graduates and early stage researchers.

The school was co-organised by CO2GeoNet and took place at the Sotacarbo Research Center of Carbonia, Sardinia (Italy). After an introductory session the Summer School addressed the topics ‘CO2 capture approaches and technologies’,

‘CO2 utilisation technologies’, and ‘CO2 storage’. The program was complemented by visits to the Sotacarbo pilot platform and laboratories, the Serbariu Old Mine Museum and a guided tour to the impressive underground complex of Porto Flavia Sergio Persoglia (right), Secretary General, impressed as well as excellent social side events. CO GeoNet contri- 2 by the underground complex of Porto Flavia buted with four presentations on ‘Enhanced oil and gas (photo courtesy A. Liebscher) recovery by injecting CO ’, ‘CO storage: where we are and 2 2 high-level international speakers, and last but not least, new challenges’, ‘Cap rock-reservoir hydraulic characteri- enthusiastic participants. We look forward to the ﬁ fth edition zation and test implementation - Experiences of Hontomín in summer 2017. site’, and ‘Site monitoring’. The Summer School was a great success and beneﬁ tted from an expert organising committee, Axel Liebscher, GFZ, Germany

ECAC Symposium on adaptation and mitigation measures

th CO2GeoNet was invited to participate in the 16 European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting & 11th European Confer- ence on Applied Climatology (ECAC) (12-16/09/16, Trieste, Italy).

Ceri J. Vincent, BGS, UK, CO2GeoNet Chair, presented on ‘why reaching the COP21 targets is important and how CCS can contribute’ in the ECAC Symposium on Climate Change – Adaptation and Mitigation: The Role of Climate Science and Services. This offered the opportunity to communicate the important role CCS can play in reducing emissions and that the technology is ﬂ exible and ready to be rolled out globally to a scientiﬁ c audi- ence working in parallel to understand our changing climate. The presentation attracted several questions on how CCS works, where it is being demonstrated and how security of storage can

CO2GeoNet at ECAC Symposium (photo courtesy S. Persoglia) be ensured. Read more at http://www.emetsoc.org/emsecac-2016/

“CO2GeoNet Highlights” is the online newsletter CO2GeoNet registered address - 3 avenue Claude issued by The European Network of Excellence Guillemin, B.P. 36009, 45060 Orléans, France – on the Geological Storage of CO2 Association Tel: +33 238 644655 Images come from various public domain sources Secretariat - Borgo Grotta Gigante, 42/C, 34016 or are courtesy of quoted authors. Sgonico (TS), Italy - Tel: +39 040 2140313 info@ co2geonet.com Online platform: www.co2geonet.com Editorship: Information and Communication Task Force Membership:

Austria: GBA - Geologische Bundesanstalt; Belgium: RBINS-GSB - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences; Croatia: UNIZG-RGNF - University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering; Czech Republic: CGS - Czech Geological Survey; Denmark: GEUS - Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland; Estonia: TTUGI - Institute of Geology at Tallinn University of Technology; France: BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières; Germany: BGR - Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe; GFZ - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, German Research Centre for Geosciences /Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum; Hungary: MFGI - Magyar Földtani és Geoﬁ zikai Intézet; Italy: Sapienza - Universita di Roma “La Sapienza”; OGS - National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics; The Netherlands: TNO - Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientiﬁ c Research; Norway: IRIS- International Research Institute of Stavanger; NIVA - Norwegian Institute for Water Research; SPR - SINTEF Petroleum Research; Poland: PGI-NRI - Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute; Romania: GeoEcoMar, - National Institute of Marine Geology and Geoecology; Slovenia: GEO-INZ - Geoinženiring d.o.o.; Spain: CIUDEN - Fundació n Ciudad de la Energí a; IGME - Instituto Geológico y Minero de España; Switzerland: ETH - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Turkey: METU-PAL - Middle East Technical University Petroleum Re- search Center; UK: BGS - British Geological Survey; HWU - Heriot-Watt University; IMPERIAL - Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London.