Publications (YM) Yucca Mountain 2-2007 Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences Donald J. DePaolo University of California - Berkeley Franklin M. Orr Jr. Stanford University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/yucca_mtn_pubs Part of the Environmental Chemistry Commons, and the Geology Commons Repository Citation U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, DePaolo, D. J., Orr, F. M. (2007). Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems. 1-186. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/yucca_mtn_pubs/131 This Report is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Report in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Report has been accepted for inclusion in Publications (YM) by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BASIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR GEOSCIENCES: FACILITATING 21ST CENTURY ENERGY SYSTEMS Report from the Workshop Held February 21-23, 2007 Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences Chair, Organizing Committee Donald J. DePaolo University of California Berkeley Co-Chair, Organizing Committee Franklin M. Orr Jr. Stanford University Co-Lead, Multiphase Fluid Transport Sally M. Benson Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford University Co-Lead, Multiphase Fluid Transport Michael Celia Princeton University Co-Lead, Chemical Migration Panel Andy Felmy Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Co-Lead, Chemical Migration Panel Kathryn L. Nagy University of Illinois at Chicago Co-Lead, Characterization Panel Graham E. Fogg University of California Davis Co-Lead, Characterization Panel Roel Snieder Colorado School of Mines Co-Lead, Modeling Panel James Davis U.S. Geological Survey Co-Lead, Modeling Panel Karsten Pruess Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Co-Lead, Technical Perspectives Factual Document Julio Friedmann Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Co-Lead, Technical Perspectives Factual Document Mark Peters Argonne National Laboratory BES Lead Nicholas B. Woodward U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences BES Contact Patrick Dobson U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences BES Administrative Contact Karen Talamini U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences Communications/Web/Publications Marilyn Saarni University of California Berkeley Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, June 2007 About the cover Acknowledgments This report was created based on contributions from many individuals. Workshop participants contributed ideas, wrote much of the text, and reviewed many drafts. Stefan Finsterle’s additional contribution to the Technical Perspectives Resource Document are appreciated. Participants in the workshop on which this report is based are grateful for the efficient organizational efforts of Connie Lansdon and Jody Shumpert of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Marilyn Saarni deserves special thanks for ably shepherding assembly of the report with assistance from other Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory staff members—Walter Denn (cover design), Daniel Hawkes (review of proof copy), and Diana Swantek (graphics). Essential support by staff of Basic Energy Sciences—Karen Talamini, Patrick Dobson, Marsha Bollinger, and Nick Woodward—during the process of planning and carrying out the workshop and report preparation is gratefully acknowledged. Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of a workshop sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees or officers, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of document authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Copyrights to portions of this report (including graphics) are reserved by original copyright holders or their assignees, and are used by the Government’s license and by permission. Requests to use any images must be made to the provider identified in the image credits. This report is available in pdf format at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html About the cover Front page: Center—A scanning electron microscope image of biofilms of sulfate-reducing bacteria (blue) growing in dilute groundwater (~1 part per million dissolved zinc), associated with an abandoned lead-zinc deposit, produce sphalerite (ZnS) particles that aggregate (light green) and form micrometer-diameter spheres (gold). Such biomineralization may assist in groundwater remediation, and may play a role in genesis of some ore deposits. Reprinted by permission of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and author Jill Banfield, University of California Berkeley; image was used on the cover of Science 290(5497), 2000. Bottom left—Hydrolysis dynamics of the Al3+ ion at supercritical conditions (T=750K). More results from similar simulations were published in E.J. Bylaska, M. Valiev, J.R. Rustad, and J.H. Weare (2007) Structure and Dynamics of the Hydration Shells of the Al3+ Ion, Journal of Chemical Physics 126(10): Art. No. 104505. Courtesy of J. Weare (University of California, San Diego) and E. Bylaska (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). Bottom middle—Simulation of CO2 injected into Berea sandstone core under steady-state conditions. Courtesy of Ljuba Miljkovic, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Bottom right—Optical measurements of the presence of a conservative tracer (top panels; red color) and a reactive tracer (bottom panels; red color) for different times. Fluid propagates from the bottom to the top of the figures through a porous medium consisting of glass spheres. Courtesy of Peter Oates; from his thesis, “Upscaling Reactive Transport in Porous Media: Laboratory Visualization and Stochastic Models,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Back page: Bottom left—Simulation of dissolved CO2 migration at Sleipner after 75 years of injection. Courtesy of Erik Lindeberg, SINTEF Petroleum Research. Bottom middle—Simulation of CO2 migration during a Frio field test of CO2 injection into a saline aquifer. Courtesy of Christine Doughty, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Bottom right—Geo-cellular model of rock fracture density in the subsurface. The model is based on the fracture distributions predicted from a combination of: (a) layers with different mechanical properties, (b) the curvature of layers, and (c) the impact of localized faulting. Courtesy of Rock Deformation Research (email • [email protected]). ii Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems BASIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR GEOSCIENCES: FACILITATING 21ST CENTURY ENERGY SYSTEMS TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Sidebar: Scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions .................................................................................................1 Subsurface Geologic Storage Science .....................................................................................................................................2 Workshop Structure and Report Preparation........................................................................................................................3 PANEL REPORTS....................................................................................................................................................................................................5 Multiphase Fluid Transport in Geologic Media......................................................................................................................7 Current Status............................................................................................................................................................................................7 Sidebar: Carbon capture and storage ..............................................................................................................................8 Basic Science Challenges, Opportunities and Research Needs .......................................................................... 10 Emergent behavior in