Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

BGS is recognised as a European centre of excellence for the study of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage, contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report. We have a dedicated CCS team active in a number of research areas including:

  • character and capacity of potential underground storage reservoirs
  • potential chemical interactions of injected CO2 with the surrounding rocks
  • storage site monitoring technologies and integrated monitoring strategies
  • assessment of long-term site performance including evaluating consequences of potential leakage

See our education pages for an Introduction to carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Regulation

Developing a suitable regulatory framework for CO2 storage is a high priority, and BGS has a key technical advisory role, both in the UK and overseas. We have provided expert technical advice to policymakers in the UK and Europe who are responsible for regulating the deployment of CCS.

Peer review

Members of the CCS Team also undertake a range of expert peer-reviews for a number of international CCS demonstration projects on behalf of governments or industrial project consortia. This is exemplified by the UK competition to build the first ‘full chain’ CCS system, where we are acting as technical advisors to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the bid evaluation process.

CCS in the UK and Republic of Ireland

The large-scale application of carbon capture and storage may increase the use of Britain’s coal — a home-grown resource — in electricity generation, as well as allowing removal of CO2 from other major industrial sources like steelworks and refineries.

CCS technology can make a significant reduction in UK emissions if it were applied to a relatively small number of industrial plants. The UK’s major potential for long-term storage of CO2 is in:

  • offshore oil and gas fields
  • offshore saline water-bearing reservoir rocks

A CO2 GIS has been developed as a result of UK studies and further information about storage potential can be found in the UK study report produced for BERR in 2006.

In 2008 the CCS Team carried out the first assessment for geological CO2 storage for the whole of Ireland in a study lead by SLR consulting, Ireland (formerly the CSA Group) and funded by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

CCS in Europe

The CCS Team has been involved in the following European research:

  • co-ordinating the European Network of Excellence — CO2GeoNet
  • Dynamis — towards hydrogen and electricity production with CCS
  • EU GeoCapacity project — assessing European capacity for geological storage of carbon dioxide
  • CO2ReMoVe — playing a leading role in this integrated project aimed at improving methodologies for storage site performance assessment and monitoring

In 2008, the Best Practice Manual for the Storage of CO2 in Saline Aquifers was produced. This multi-partner volume, published by BGS, distils the findings of a number of recent European projects to summarise the latest understanding of storage site characterisation and operation.

CCS in China

The CCS Team is also active in China, in the COACH and NZEC projects, working with Chinese and European partners to identify opportunities and evaluate potential for geological storage of carbon dioxide in selected regions of north-east China. The BGS co-leads the geological storage work-package for NZEC alongside the China University of Petroleum (CUP, Beijing). See also Geoscientist article Clearer Skies for China.

Further research areas for CCS

BGS is a partner alongside the universities of Cambridge, Leeds and Manchester in the new NERC-funded CRIUS (CO2 Reactions In Underground Storage) project involving research into the geochemical aspects of carbon dioxide storage, focused on:

  • rates and mechanisms of CO2–water–rock reactions through laboratory experimentation
  • theoretical modelling
  • study of natural carbon dioxide-rich systems

We also co-supervise a new CASE studentship with Cambridge University focussing on quantitative seismic analysis and CO2 flow in porous media. We are building new laboratory equipment for long-term experiments to study the flow behaviour of supercritical CO2 in geological seals.

Further information

Contact Dr Andy Chadwick for more information about carbon capture and storage (CCS).