BGS has secured funding to scope out options for a CO2 storage research testbed. The testbed will provide the capability to investigate knowledge gaps in geological CO2 storage as defined through review of existing infrastructure worldwide and consultations with stakeholders.
The testbed will provide an innovation platform to develop new techniques and equipment to improve monitoring, reduce costs and further enhance safe storage and open access to and sharing of data, for the benefit of the research community and storage developers.
Finally, the testbed will enable non-technical developments that are vital for underpinning future full-scale commercial systems. This includes providing evidence for policymakers and regulators, including validation that storage technologies are feasible, and to ensure data is available to allow appropriate regulation for the emerging CO2 storage industry. Crucially, the infrastructure will seek to improve public acceptance of this nascent technology by providing a publicly owned and transparent facility for future research and innovation exploration. It is not seen however as a necessary pre-cursor to full deployment which is fully expected to start in parallel to the construction of this Testbed.
Project scope for the outline design
This scoping project will identify a range of feasible location and design options that preliminary technical and permitting evidence indicate are deliverable and desirable. It will provide the evidence and confidence to make the recommendations required to inform future investment decisions, for example, by submitting a proposal to the UKRI Infrastructure Fund in summer 2021.
Objectives of the research facility
- To provide a world-class research facility to allow academia and industry to investigate issues surrounding subsea CO2 storage. The issues for investigation can be technological, economic, geological, political and environmental.
- Address the above issues through research to support the commercialisation of CO2 storage by de-risking the delivery of such solutions in the industrial clusters.
- The facility will, as far as practical, allow researchers to incorporate innovative ideas that are relevant to subsurface CO2 storage, or to facilitate the testing of innovative technologies.
Activities and deliverables
BGS will carry out the scoping and outline design work. The key to this work will be discussions with the wider community of technical stakeholders to seek advice, information and ideas that influence the design, to ensure that the final design will enable useful research to be conducted at the site.
The final deliverable for this project is a report to Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) that sets out the possible design and the business case for the research testbed. The report is to be completed by the end of June 2021.
Consultation timetable
A consultation document is now available for download and completion.
Completed responses should be sent to ccsresearch@bgs.ac.uk by 19 April 2021.
Relative topics
Latest news
Updated radon map for Great Britain published
02/12/2022
The UK Health Security Agency and the British Geological Survey have published an updated radon potential map for Great Britain.
UK Geoenergy Observatories: time zero for net zero
30/11/2022
The BGS-led UK Geoenergy Observatories project is shining a light on the subsurface’s potential to provide geothermal energy.
BGS scientists on board research vessel in Japan in major marine research collaboration
25/11/2022
Experts from the BGS’s marine team are part of a major international marine research collaboration to understand more about earthquakes associated with the Japan Trench.
BGS Strategy: public consultation
18/11/2022
We would welcome responses from anyone interested or involved in the geosciences as part of the wider consultation on our new BGS Strategy
BGS supports development of a local land-use framework for Devon
10/11/2022
The framework will help to identify data improvements to support more joined-up decision making about land use in Devon.
Deep-sea mining evidence review published
31/10/2022
The deep-sea mining independent evidence review report was commissioned by the UK Government to inform its policy in relation to deep-sea mining.
Parts of UK listed among world’s most important geological sites
25/10/2022
Parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been named among 100 of the world’s most important geological sites by UNESCO and international scientists.
Film trilogy wins award and shares experiences of 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption
24/10/2022
A collaborative film trilogy co-directed by BGS Volcanologist, Dr Anna Hicks, has won the overall ‘Dynamic Earth’ Theme Award at the Earth Futures Festival 2022.
BGS joins European Geothermal Congress to highlight UK’s geothermal potential
21/10/2022
The European Geothermal Congress will discuss how the geothermal sector can help with the energy crisis.
New seabed maps offer a window into the distant past
10/10/2022
BGS has begun publishing a new series of high-resolution offshore geological maps showing the distribution of bedrock and sediments that make up the seabed around our coasts.
Project findings provide essential insight into the last British–Irish ice sheet
29/09/2022
Understanding more about the north-west European continental shelf and improving forecasting for the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.
New geological map of offshore Anglesey released
28/09/2022
BGS has released a new fine-scale digital map featuring the seabed geology of offshore Anglesey (Ynys Môn).