Australian gas fields show that carbon capture and storage is secure

The findings provide further evidence that a developing technology known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), in which climate changing CO₂ gas emissions from industry are collected and transported for storage underground, is safe.

Researchers studied natural CO₂ gas fields and CO₂ mineral springs in southeast Australia to improve the understanding of how to safely store CO₂ underground.

By measuring tiny traces of inactive natural gases, known as noble gases, found in the CO₂ they were able to show that, in both the gas fields and mineral springs, the CO₂ had come from the same source, the Earth’s mantle.

The Earth’s mantle is approximately 40 km below the depth where the samples were collected from. Despite such a long distance of travel, the unique noble gas signature preserves the record of the gas origin. The same techniques can therefore be confidently applied for monitoring injected CO₂, where travel distances are much shorter than in these natural samples.

Ruta Karolyte, who led the research at the University of Edinburgh said: “We were able to show for the first time that noble gases remain very sensitive tracers of the source of CO₂ even after it mixes with large volumes of water. This means that we can use noble gas techniques to sensitively fingerprint stored CO₂ once it is injected underground.”

Stuart Gilfillan, who directed the study said: “Our work clearly shows the unique capability of using noble gases to monitor CO₂ injected for geological storage. This paves the way for safe storage of CO₂ in old gas and oil fields, such as those present in the North Sea.”

Such an approach can reduce emissions of CO₂ and help to limit the impact of climate change. Adoption of CCS technologies could greatly help the UK cut its greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero by 2050, necessary to meet recently announced targets.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/energy-storage/26062019/australian-gas-fields-show-that-carbon-capture-and-storage-is-secure/