The state of the art in monitoring and verification— ten years on

In the ten years since publication of the IPCC Special Report on CCS, there has been considerable progress in monitoring and verification (M&V). Numerous injection projects, ranging from small injection pilots to much larger longer-term commercial operations, have been successfully monitored to the satisfaction of regulatory agencies, and technologies have been adapted and implemented to demonstrate containment, conformance, and no environmental impact. In this review we consider M&V chiefly from the perspective of its ability to satisfy stakeholders that these three key requirements are being met. From selected project examples, we show how this was done, and reflect particularly on the nature of the verification process. It is clear that deep-focussed monitoring will deliver the primary requirement to demonstrate conformance and containment and to provide early warning of any deviations from predicted storage behaviour. Progress in seismic imaging, especially offshore, and the remarkable results with InSAR from In Salah are highlights of the past decade. A wide range of shallow monitoring techniques has been tested at many sites, focussing especially on the monitoring of soil gas and groundwater. Quantification of any detected emissions would be required in some jurisdictions to satisfy carbon mitigation targets in the event of leakage to surface: however, given the likely high security of foreseeable storage sites, we suggest that shallow monitoring should focus mainly on assuring against environmental impacts. This reflects the low risk profile of well selected and well operated storage sites and recognizes the over-arching need for monitoring to be directed to specific, measureable risks. In particular, regulatory compliance might usefully involve clearer articulation of leakage scenarios, with this specificity making it possible to demonstrate “no leakage” in a more objective way than is currently the case. We also consider the monitoring issues for CO2-EOR, and argue that there are few technical problems in providing assurance that EOR sites are successfully sequestering CO2; the issues lie largely in linking existing oil and gas regulations to new greenhouse gas policy. We foresee that, overall, monitoring technologies will continue to benefit from synergies with oil and gas operations, but that the distinctive regulatory and certification environments for CCS may pose new questions. Overall, while there is clearly scope for technical improvements, more clearly posed requirements, and better communication of monitoring results, we reiterate that this has been a decade of significant achievement that leaves monitoring and verification well placed to serve the wider CCS enterprise

Forecasting CO2 Sequestration with Enhanced Oil Recovery

The aim of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere and to mitigate its effects on climate change. Over the years, naturally occurring CO2 sources have been utilized in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in the United States. This has presented an opportunity to supplement and gradually replace the high demand for natural CO2 sources with anthropogenic sources. There also exist incentives for operators to become involved in the storage of anthropogenic CO2 within partially depleted reservoirs, in addition to the incremental production oil revenues. These incentives include a wider availability of anthropogenic sources, the reduction of emissions to meet regulatory requirements, tax incentives in some jurisdictions, and favorable public relations. The United States Department of Energy has sponsored several Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs) through its Carbon Storage program which have conducted field demonstrations for both EOR and saline aquifer storage. Various research efforts have been made in the area of reservoir characterization, monitoring, verification and accounting, simulation, and risk assessment to ascertain long-term storage potential within the subject storage complex. This book is a collection of lessons learned through the RCSP program within the Southwest Region of the United States. The scope of the book includes site characterization, storage modeling, monitoring verification reporting (MRV), risk assessment and international case studies

Quantification techniques for potential CO2 leakage from geological storage sites

AbstractCO2 storage monitoring programmes aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of the project in controlling atmospheric CO2 levels, by providing confidence in predictions of the long-term fate of stored CO2 and identifying and measuring any potentially harmful leaks to the environment. In addition, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) treats leakages of stored CO2 from the geosphere in to the ocean or atmosphere as emissions, and as such they need to be accounted for. An escape of CO2 from storage may be detected through losses from the reservoir, or migration through the overburden, into shallow groundwater systems, through topsoil and into the atmosphere, or through a seabed into the water column. Various monitoring techniques can be deployed to detect and in some cases quantify leakage in each of these compartments. This paper presents a portfolio of monitoring methods that are appropriate for CO2 leakage quantification, with a view to minimising both uncertainties and costs

Quantification techniques for potential CO2 leakage from geological storage sites

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CO2 CAPTURE PROJECT - AN INTEGRATED, COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR NEXT GENERATION CO2 SEPARATION, CAPTURE AND GEOLOGIC SEQUESTRATION

The CO{sub 2} Capture Project (CCP) is a joint industry project, funded by eight energy companies (BP, ChevronTexaco, EnCana, Eni, Norsk Hydro, Shell, Statoil, and Suncor) and three government agencies (1) European Union (DG Res & DG Tren), (2) Norway (Klimatek) and (3) the U.S.A. (Department of Energy). The project objective is to develop new technologies, which could reduce the cost of CO{sub 2} capture and geologic storage by 50% for retrofit to existing plants and 75% for new-build plants. Technologies are to be developed to ''proof of concept'' stage by the end of 2003. The project budget is approximately $24 million over 3 years and the work program is divided into eight major activity areas: (1) Baseline Design and Cost Estimation--defined the uncontrolled emissions from each facility and estimate the cost of abatement in$/tonne CO{sub 2}. (2) Capture Technology, Post Combustion: technologies, which can remove CO{sub 2} from exhaust gases after combustion. (3) Capture Technology, Oxyfuel: where oxygen is separated from the air and then burned with hydrocarbons to produce an exhaust with high CO{sub 2} for storage. (4) Capture Technology, Pre -Combustion: in which, natural gas and petroleum coke are converted to hydrogen and CO{sub 2} in a reformer/gasifier. (5) Common Economic Model/Technology Screening: analysis and evaluation of each technology applied to the scenarios to provide meaningful and consistent comparison. (6) New Technology Cost Estimation: on a consistent basis with the baseline above, to demonstrate cost reductions. (7) Geologic Storage, Monitoring and Verification (SMV): providing assurance that CO{sub 2} can be safely stored in geologic formations over the long term. (8) Non-Technical: project management, communication of results and a review of current policies and incentives governing CO{sub 2} capture and storage. Technology development work dominated the past six months of the project. Numerous studies are making substantial progress towards their goals. Some technologies are emerging as preferred over others. Pre-combustion Decarbonization (hydrogen fuel) technologies are showing good progress and may be able to meet the CCP's aggressive cost reduction targets for new-build plants. Chemical looping to produce oxygen for oxyfuel combustion shows real promise. As expected, post-combustion technologies are emerging as higher cost options that may have niche roles. Storage, measurement, and verification studies are moving rapidly forward. Hyper-spectral geo-botanical measurements may be an inexpensive and non-intrusive method for long-term monitoring. Modeling studies suggest that primary leakage routes from CO{sub 2} storage sites may be along wellbores in areas disturbed by earlier oil and gas operations. This is good news because old wells are usually mapped and can be repaired during the site preparation process. Many studies are nearing completion or have been completed. Their preliminary results are summarized in the attached report and presented in detail in the attached appendices