The USA National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) proudly
published thefrstCarbonSequestrationAtlas
oftheUnitedStatesandCanadain 2007, and in 2012, the fourth version
waspublished.Thelatestversion (The North American Carbon Storage
Atlas 2012) includes also Mexico and identifes the potential CO2
geological storagecapacityin North America. Theconservative
estimatesof theCO2storage capacity is 136 Giga tons(Gt)foroiland
gasfelds;65Gt forcoalfelds;and 1,738Gtforsaline reservoirs,
collectively representingover500years of storage.At current CO2
emission rates, calculations indicate that there is more than 500
years of storage potential in assessed formations. TheCO2Storage
Atlasofthe NorwegianNorth Sea was published in2011,describing
possible subsurface storage locations for carbondioxidein
theNorwegianpart oftheNorthSea. Theatlasshowsthat
thisareahasatotalstoragecapacity ofabout70GtofCO2.AlsoAustraliais
following now.Last year the Queensland
CarbonDioxideGeologicalStorageAtlas
waspublishedasthefrststorageatlas from Australia.
ForEurope,theEUGeoCapacityproject (involving25Europeanpartners)has
providedGISmapsofthelocationof potentialgeologicalstoragecapacityin
deepsalineformations,hydrocarbon reservoirsandcoalfelds(Fig.1).The
storage capacity estimates are in total 360 Gt with 326 Gt in deep
saline aquifers, 32 Gtindepletedhydrocarbonfeldsand2 Gt in
unmineable coal beds. The onshore storagecapacityisupto116Gtandthe
offshore storage capacity is up to 244 Gt.
TheEuropeanCommissioninitiatedthe project CO2StoP in 2011 to
establish a database of publicly available data on CO2 storage
potential in Europe (see this newsletter). The CO2StoP
databasemaybethefrststep towards a European storage atlas.
Theprimarypurposeofa European Atlas would be to give
theCO2storagepotentialforall Europeanstates.Productionof such an
Atlas would entail the cooperation and coordination of CO2
geological storage expertsfromgovernmentagencies,
geologicalsurveysaswellasacademia
andindustry.Theobjectiveoftheatlas
istoprovideanoverviewofgeological
structuresthataresuitableforsecure long-termstorageofCO2.Knowledge
regarding reservoir properties, sealing
rocks,migrationpaths,storage capacityandmonitoringmethods
iscrucialinordertodetermine whetherpotentialstoragelocations
aresuitedtostoreCO2overalong period of time. According to the EU
EnergyRoadmap2050,Europe needstoapplyCO2 geologicalstorage
fromaround2030inthepowersector inordertoattainemission-reduction
targets. AEuropeanatlaswillbevital forenablingprogressivecommercial
deployment within the right time frame.
Publishedorinteractive?Avital questionforaEuropeanstorageatlas
iswhethertopublishtheatlasin traditional form and update it
regularly, as fortheCarbonSequestration Atlasofthe United States
and Canada, or to create an interactive atlas that is accessible
over the internet. The published version will, as in the case of
the American atlas, need updates everyfewyearsasnewdatabecome
availableandmethodologiesforCO2 storageestimatesareimproved,whereas
aninteractiveatlaswouldbeupdated
directlyandcontinuously.Publishedor
interactive,ENeRGconsidersthattimeis now for a comprehensive
European Atlas. Partoftheworkhasalreadybeendone
and,moreimportant,thereisinEurope acohesiveresearchcommunitywhocan
successfully realize that. Niels Poulsenpresident of ENeRGThe
Newsletter of the ENeRG NetworkIssue N 26 September 2012European
CO2 Geological Storage AtlasFig.1 EU GeoCapacity project (2009):
Map of CO2 emission sources and storage
sitesThe15-monthprojectCO2StoP (AssessmentofCO2StoragePotentialin
Europe) started at the beginning of this year.
TheobjectiveofCO2StoPistobuildaCO2
storagepotentialdatabasefortheEuropean
CommissionandtheJointResearchCentre
(JRC).TheCO2Stopprojectincludes29
partners,whichareorganizedinasmall
consortiumwithGEUSascoordinatorand BGSandTNOascontractors.Allother
partnersaresubcontracted.Thepartners
includenationalgeologicalsurveysand
arangeofotherresearchorganizations;
mostofthemarealsomembersofENeRG. The EU GeoCapacity project had 26
project partnersfrom20countries,mostofwhich
havejoinedtheCO2StoPproject,butthere
arealsonewpartnerswithintheCO2Stop project. In general, there is
one from each of the participating countries, in total 29 partners
representing29researchinstitutesfrom29 countries (21 EU member
states, 3 associated
countriesand5othercountries)(Fig.2).TheCO2StoPprojectisanEUservice
contract project to build a CO2 storage potential database for
aquifers and hydrocarbon felds basedonpubliclyavailabledatafrommost
European countries; as such, the project will
notdevelopnewdatabutbuildonexisting
knowledgeincludingmethodologiesto:TheCO2StoPprojectisbuildingupon
thebasicworkandresultsgeneratedbythe
previousprojects,theEUGeoCapacityFP6 R&D project (see GEO
ENeRGY No 12/2005, 14/2006, 16/2007, 18/2008) which again was based
upon the results of the Joule II project (fnalised 1995), the
GESTCO project (fnalised 2003), and the Castor project (fnalised
2007).The results of the project are to be used for EU policymaking
purposes. This assumes that the most important goal for the
policymakers istoassesstherolethatCCScanplayina portfolio of
greenhouse gas mitigation options, and to know the potential CO2
storage capacity andthelocationofthisstoragecapacity.Regretfully,
the CO2StoP project is limited
inresponsibility,totally13person-monthsof work. The project will
depend on the amount of publicly available data. It is therefore
uncertain iftheprojectwillresultinacomprehensive
database.Furthermore,futureupdatesof
thedatainthedatabasearenotincluded intheproject.
Along-termsolutionwillbea storage atlas for Europe using an
interactive webdatabaseserverdrawingthepublicly
availabledatafromtheindividualcountries databases, and using the
experiencefromOne Geology-Europeand fromEuroGeoSource. Niels
PoulsenPresident of ENeRGENeRG Partners Involved in the European
Commission CCS database project - CO2StoPThe CO2 Storage Atlas of
the Norwegian part of the North Sea has been prepared by the
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), on request by the Ministry
of Petroleum and Energy.ItwaslaunchedbytheMinister
on13thDecember2011(Fig.3).Thekey objectiveforthisatlasistodocument
whereitcanbepossibletoimplementsafe
long-termstorageofCO2,andhowmuch
capacitythereisforgeologicalstorageof
CO2offshoreNorway.Possiblestorage
sitesshouldhavenointerferencewiththe petroleum activity, and
mapping and volume calculationsshouldbeverifable.Another important
objective for the atlas was to form the basis for any terms and
conditions to be set for future development of a storage
site.Thestudyisbasedondetailedwork
onallrelevantgeologicalformationsand
hydrocarbonfeldsintheNorwegianpartof
theNorthSea.NPDhasaccesstoalldata collected on the Norwegian
Continental Shelf (NCS) related to the petroleum industry and
hasanationalresponsibilityforthedata.
Thisdatabase,togetherwithmanyyearsof
dedicatedworktoestablishgeologicalplay
modelsfortheNorthSea,hasgivenusa goodbasisfortheworkwearepresenting
here.21geologicalformationshavebeen
individuallyassessed,andgroupedinto saline aquifers. A systematic
workfow and characterization systemhasbeendevelopedforthisstudy.
Aquifersandstructureswereevaluated
intermsofcapacityandsafestorageof
CO2.Insubsequentstepsintheworkfow, potential reservoirs and seals
identifed were evaluatedandcharacterizedfortheirCO2 storage
prospectivity. Sealing quality is based
onevaluationofthesealinglayers(shales)
andpossiblefracturingoftheseal.Existing
wellsthroughtheaquifers/structuresand seals have beenalso
considered. Reservoir capacitydependsonthecalculatedvolume
andcommunicatingvolumesaswellasthe
reservoirinjectivity.Parametersusedinthe
characterizationprocessarebasedondata
andexperiencefromthepetroleumactivity on the NCS and the fact that
CO2 should be stored in the supercritical phase to have the most
effcient and safest storage.CO2 Storage Atlas, Norwegian North
SeaFig.2 Countries participating in the CO2StoP
projectDevelopaharmonisedmethodologyand
formulaeforassessinggeologicalCO2 storage capacity in Europe.
DefneasetofCO2storageparameters thatwillallowtheagreedmethodology
tobeimplemented:bothmethodology andparameterstobedefnedinclose
cooperation with the JRC.Providethestoragedatadefnedabove
foreachcountry:thistobeheldinanEU database.
EstimateCO2storagecapacityinEurope bothindeepsalineaquifersandin
hydrocarbon felds.ENeRG European Network for Research in Geo-Energy
is an informal contact network open to all European organisations
with a primary mission and objective to conduct basic and applied
research and technological activities related to the exploration
and production of energy sources derived from the Earths
crust.ENeRG president for 2012 is Niels E. Poulsen from Geological
Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark. Contact:
[email protected] secretariat is run by the Faculty of Mining,
Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb,
Croatia.Contact person: Zeljka Kurelec ENeRG website: is maintained
by the Czech Geological Survey (CGS). Prague, Czech Republic.
Contact person: Dr. Vt Hladk ENeRG Newsletter GEO ENeRGYThe
Newsletter is published by the Institute of Geology at Tallinn
University of Technology. Tallinn, Estonia.Editor: Dr. Alla
Shogenova Layout and computer typesetting: Kazbulat
ShogenovLanguage review: Jon R. Ineson (GEUS) and Gillian E Pickup
(Heriot-Watt University)ENeRG European Network for Research in
Geo-EnergyThe North American Carbon Storage Atlas 2012
Thetotalpotentialstoragecapacity
wascalculatedforthesalineaquifersin
theareaswherethereisconsideredto benosignifcantinterferencewiththe
petroleumactivity.Inareaswithextensive
explorationandexploitationofpetroleum, the potential storage
capacity was based on abandonedfelds.Theatlasalsoprovides
astudyoflongdistancemigrationofCO2
andvolumecalculationsofsomestructural
closureswithinregionalaquifers.The storage effciency factor has
been assessed individuallyforeachaquiferbasedon simplifed reservoir
simulation cases. Theestimatedstoragecapacityis
classifedbytheexplorationmaturityofthe sites, with an estimated
total potential of 48 Gigatonnesinaquifersand24Gigatonnes
tobestoredinhydrocarbonfeldsafter abandonment. Eva HallandProject
DirectorNorwegian Petroleum
[email protected]
Laboratory(NETL)publishedtheresultsof the frst comprehensive
mapping of the CO2 storagepotentialTheCarbonSequestra-tion Atlas of
the United States and Canada in
2007.Itsfourthversion(thistimeincluding
alsothepotentialinMexico)TheNorth
AmericanCarbonStorageAtlaswaspre-sentedatthe11thAnnualConferenceon
CarbonCaptureUtilizationandSequestra-tioninPittsburghonMay1,2012(Fig.4).
Thisisthemostcurrentdepictionofthe potential CO2 geological storage
capacity in North America.Theconservativeestimates of the CO2
storage capacity is 136 Giga tons (Gt) for oil and gas felds; 65 Gt
for coalfelds;
and1,738Gtforsalinereservoirs.Apply-ingthemethodologyofthestaticresource
estimation,continuingwiththecurrentCO2
emissionrates,calculationsindicatethat
thereismorethan500yearsofstorage potential in assessed formations.
High esti-mates were also given which resulted in the potential
even up to 5,000 years. Thedevelopmentoftheatlasinvolved the three
countries identifying, gathering and sharing data on major carbon
dioxide (CO2) sourcesandpotentialstorageobjectsand, what is the
most important, using compatible
methodologies.Itisfrequentlymentioned
byoffcialsthattheatlaswillbeparticularly
usefulforstoringCO2incross-borderres-ervoirs.
Anovelapproachinrespecttotheear-lierversionsmeansthatitisnownotonly
thecompletecontinentalatlas,italsohas an online version
(www.nacsap.org) and an
onlinemapviewer,whichwillprovideinter-active display and analysis
of both the emis-sion data and storage potential. The website
containsinformationaboutCO2stationary
sources(2250altogether)andstoragere-sources in North America (oil
and gas felds, coalfeldsandsalinereservoirs),aswell
asmethodologiesforestimatingstorage
resourcesandlinkstoadditionalinforma-tion. The online viewer houses
data from all threecountries,alongwithanalyticaltools
toaddressCCSdeployment.Intendedfor
abroadrangeofusers,theonlineviewer
givesusersinteractiveaccesstothemap layers and data used in the
atlas. Thereisanotherimportantdifferencein
comparisontoearlierversions.Itshowsan
increaseinpotentialstoragecapacity,at-tributedmainlytobettergeologicresolution
andtheidentifcationofadditionallocations that could be used for
EOR. By matching up EOR storage locations with specifc sources
ofCO2,theatlasprovidesamorecompre-hensiveviewoftheoutlookandpotential
for carbon storage through EOR as an early
moverforconstructionofalargeCCSsys-tem.The atlas was developed at
national level bytheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy,Natural Resources Canada
and the Mexican Minis-tryofEnergy.Particularlyworthmentioning
isitsregionalorientationresultingfromthe
workoftheDepartmentofEnergysRe-gionalCarbonSequestrationPartnerships,
whose 400 organizations have heavily con-tributed over the last
decade to characterize geologicstorageopportunitiesintheU.S. and
Canada. Therefore, a major part of the atlas is dedicated to
descriptions of the dem-onstrationandvalidationprojectsaimedto
better characterize the selected prospective areas in terms of the
subsurface geological composition and properties. In this way, and
with more details, the atlas will not only
pro-videanoverview,butalsopresentacom-pendium of the current best
practices.Bruno SafticUniversity of ZagrebFig.4 Front page of the
North American Carbon Storage AtlasFig.3 Front page of the
Norwegian North Sea CO2 Storage AtlasQueensland CO2 Geological
Storage AtlasThe ENeRG Network Country RepresentativesALBANIAProf
Adil NezirajAlbanian Geological
[email protected] Karl MillahnUniversity of
[email protected] AND HERZEGOVINAProf Edin
Delic University of [email protected] Georgi V.
GeorgievSofa [email protected] Bruno
SafticUniversity of [email protected] REPUBLICDr Vit
HladikCzech Geological Survey (CGS)[email protected]
Niels E. PoulsenGeological Survey of Denmarkand Greenland
(GEUS)[email protected] Alla ShogenovaInstitute of
Geology,Tallinn University of [email protected]
KallioGeological Survey of [email protected]
Isabelle [email protected]
Apostolos ArvanitisInstitute of Geology & MineralExploration
(IGME)[email protected] Endre HegedsEtvs Lorand
GeophysicalInstitute (ELGI)[email protected] Sergio
PersogliaNational Institute of Oceanographyand Experimental
Geophysics (OGS)[email protected] Viktor
[email protected] Saulius
SliaupaInstitute of Geology and Geography [email protected]
(MACEDONIA)Dr Gavril MirakovskiUniversity in Skopje
[email protected] Oleg BogdevichInstitute of
Geology [email protected] Vladan
DubljevicGeological Survey of [email protected]
NETHERLANDSDr Chris te StretNetherlands Institute of
AppliedGeoscience TNO NationalGeological
[email protected]
HatzignatiouInternational Research Instituteof Stavanger
(IRIS)[email protected] Adam WojcickiPolish
Geological [email protected] Cabrita da
SilvaMinistry of Economical Activitiesand Innovation
DirectorateGeneral for Energy and
[email protected] Constantin S.
SavaNational Institute for MarineGeology and Geoecology
[email protected] Alexander
[email protected] Snezana
Komatina-PetrovicUnion University
[email protected] Ludovit KucharicDionyz Stur
State [email protected]
CarGEOINENIRING [email protected] Martinez
OrioGeological and Mining Institute of Spain
(IGME)[email protected] Ender OkandanMiddle East
Technical University Petroleum Research Center
[email protected] ScotlandProf Patrick CorbettHeriot-Watt
[email protected] Queensland CO2 Geological
Storage Atlasevaluatesthegeologicalsuitabilityof
theQueenslandsbasinsforlarge-scale
CO2storageanddoesnotconsiderfactors
suchaspotentialinterferencewithother
resources(e.g.groundwater,hydrocarbon
exploration,coalmining)anddistancefrom
CO2.Thirtysixonshorebasinshavebeen
assessedforCO2geologicalstoragein saline aquifers (either
conventional structural trapsorthroughmigration-assistedstorage
mechanisms),depletedhydrocarbonfelds and unmineable coal
seams.TheAtlasalsocontainsseismicdata coverage maps, together with
line-drawings andgeologicalcross-sections.Inparticular,
foreachbasin,astratigraphicchartis
presented,wherecolour-codedlithologies
helptoidentifypotentialreservoirand
caprockunits.Thetimescaleusedinthe
chartsistheGeologicalTimescale2004,
modifedtoincorporateAustralianstage names (Gradstein et al.,
2005).Inordertoverifywhetherabasinhas
asuffcientsedimentaryinfll(>800m,
mindepthtostoreCO2inasupercritical state),basementmaps,compiledfrom
theOZSEEBASETM(2005)areprovided intheAtlas,highlightingbasementrock
exposures, basement faults and lineaments
andearthquakedata(source:Geoscience Australia).The second step has
been the defnition of storage complex ranking criteria, based on
the reservoir and the caprock effectiveness,
asacceptable(score:3),uncertain (score:2)andbelowminimum(score:1).
Thetotalscoreofastoragecomplexisthe sum of the individual ranking
criteria scores, ranging from a minimum of 8 to a maximum of
15.Thethirdphaseisrepresentedby thestoragevolumetricestimationbased
onfree-phasetrapping,i.e.dissolution,
mineralizationandadsorptionhavenot beenconsidered.Aspectsconcerning
nomenclatureinconsistenciesbetween CO2trappingmechanismsandstorage
processes are also discussed.IntheAtlas,regionalestimatestorage
capacitiesarealsoprovided,which correspondtothesocalledtheoretical
capacities,asdefnedbyBachuetal.
(2007)intheirstorageresourcepyramid.
Foreachreservoiridentifedashaving
themostsignifcantpotential,arankingof
thesubjectiveestimateaccuracy(from
VeryGoodtoPoor)basedondataquality andmethodusedintheevaluationofthe
potentialstoragecapacity,isprovided.The
equationusedforthevolumetricestimation of the CO2 storage
is:MCO2=RV**Sg*Where:MCO2: mass of CO2 stored (kg)RV: total
reservor volume (m3): total effective pore space (fraction)Sg: gas
saturation within the pore space as a fraction of the total pore
space: CO2 density at the reservoir depth (kg/m3)Basins have been
then grouped in three maincategories:highprospectivitybasins
(reservoir-caprockwithdemonstrated
effectivenessforinjection,storageand
containmentofCO2),lowprospectivity
basins(reservoir-caprockwithuncertain effectiveness) and unsuitable
basins (Fig.5).TheQueenslandbasinassessment
revealsthatthemostpromisingstorage complexes lie in fve basins,
with the highest
rankedbeingrepresentedbyPaleozoic-Mesozoicfuvialandcoastalreservoirs,
hostinghydrocarbonfeldsandmajor
salineaquifers.Theirtheoreticalstorage capacities are in order of
thousands to tens ofthousandsofMt(Bradshawetal.,2009,
2011).Federica Donda and Sergio
PersogliaOGSFig.5Geologicalstorageprospectivityof onshore
Queensland basins. Also shown are
locationsofmajorstationaryCO2emissions
nodesscaledbytotalinstalledpowerstation
capacity(Mw)(Bradshawetal.,2011, reproduced with permission of the
Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines)