Delivering the new CCS agenda: Storage Parallel Session

Attending the UKCCSRC Network Conference at Cambridge, UK is really a memorable experience. Our research interest lies in CO₂ storage and as such attended the Storage Panel in the morning of 27th Mar 2018. Stuart Haszeldine kicked off the session by introducing the guest speakers on the panel.

Alan James, Managing Director at Pale Blue Dot Energy, was the first on the line-up in a talk on the Acorn CCS project. This project is aimed at supporting the UK Government’s Clean Growth Strategy Acorn provides initial infrastructure to enable clean growth in the UK. Alan James described a pathway to decarbonisation through existing gas terminals at St. Fergus gas progressing plant in North East Scotland. He further elaborated on the scope of the Acorn project which explores low-cost options for extracting CO₂ from natural gas. Although the project is not currently focused on an optimal solution for decarbonisation, it heralds a future where hydrogen use and CO₂ utilisation gains momentum. Alan James concluded his presentation by encouraging us to register for ACT Acorn Webinar on 20th June 2018 for update on the project.

Jonathon Bull, Professor in Geology and Geophysics from University of Southampton, was the second speaker. He spoke about the CHIMNEY project in a presentation titled, ‘CH4 Migration in North Sea Overburden – Preliminary Concepts and Cruise Results STEMM-CCS and CHIMNEY’. He described the fluid flow processes and the physical properties of sediments relevant to greenhouse gases. He gives us an idea of the seabed fluid flow process as it pertains to the another greenhouse gas, CO₂. From his talk, we understand the mechanisms for vertical/sub-vertical fluid flow in the sub-surface, the ubiquitous seismic chimneys/pipes found in offshore sedimentary basins, and increased the knowledge on impacts of marine Carbon Capture and Storage.

Finally, Jamie Stewart, Postdoctoral researcher from the University of Edinburgh, gave a presentation on ‘CO₂ – Enhanced Oil Recovery: Carbon Accounting for Storage’. He showed some results on CO₂ storage/emission profile, and described his recent findings on the potential for increased CO₂ storage and the production of low carbon intensity oil from a mature basin.

Apart from the Storage Panel session, we headed off to a 30-minutes networking session were we got the opportunity to broadened our views with highlights from the attendees of the Capture and Systems panels. Many thanks to the UKCCSRC team for organising the 2018 Cambridge Networking Conference as this provided us with the opportunity to network for future collaboration across all CCS platforms.

This blog was co-authored by Emmanual Edet Luther, Jianghui Li and Michael Onoja