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Safer carbon capture and storage – Big gain from that?


Oxford University Press Release

Peer-reviewed publications

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Safer carbon capture and storage

Atmospheric CO2 (CO2) has increased dramatically over the past 50 years, leading to higher global temperatures and abrupt changes to Earth’s climate. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the new technologies that scientists hope will play an important role in solving the climate crisis. It involves CO . capture2 from emissions from industrial processes, or from burning fossil fuels in electricity generation, which are then stored underground in geological formations. CCS will also be key if we want to produce “clean burning” hydrogen from hydrocarbon systems.

The UK government recently selected four sites to develop multi-billion pound CCS projects as part of a plan to cut 20-30 million tonnes of CO.2 to 2030 from heavy industry. Other countries have made similar carbon-cutting commitments.

Depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs have a smaller storage potential (10%) than deep saline aquifers but are considered an important early opportunity for geological CO development2 storage technology. Good luck, CO2 has historically been pumped into many depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs as a means to enhance oil recovery (CO2-EOR). This provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the geochemical (biological) behavior of injected carbon on an engineering time scale.

‘CCS will be an important tool in our fight to stop climate change. Understanding how CCS works in practice, in addition to computer modeling and lab-based experiments, is essential to providing safe and secure CO confidence2 Geological Survey. ‘ said Dr Rebecca Tyne, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

In a paper published today in Nature, Dr Rebecca Tyne and Professor Chris Ballentine from the University of Oxford, lead an international collaborative team to investigate the behavior of CO.2 in a CO2-EOR flooded oil field in Louisiana, USA. They compared the geochemical (biological) composition of CO2-EOR flooded fields with adjacent fields, never subject to CO2-EOR. Data shows that up to 74% CO2 left by CO2-EOR was dissolved in groundwater. Unexpectedly, it also revealed that microbial methanogenesis metabolized up to 13-19% of the CO input.2 into methane, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO .2.

This study is the first to integrate modern isotope tracer (noble gases, coagulation and stability isotope data) with microbiological data to investigate the fate of injected CO.2.

Methane is less soluble, less compressible, and less reactive than CO .2, so if produced, the amount of CO will decrease2 We can safely inject these sites. However, now that this process has been defined, we may take it into account in future CCS site selection. ‘ said Professor Chris Ballentine, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford.

In addition, the authors suggest that this process is occurring in other CO2-rich natural gas and CO . deposits2-EOR oil fields. Temperature is an important consideration, and many CCS geological targets will be too deep and hot for microbesto to work. However, if CO2 Leakage from hot systems deeper into similar cooler, shallower geological structures where bacteria are present, this process can occur. This research is important for determining future CCS targets, establishing safe base conditions, and long-term monitoring programs, which are essential for long-term carbon storage. and low risk.

END

Full paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04153-3#citas

For interviews or other inquiries, please contact:

Rob Ashley, Strategic Communications, University of Oxford

[email protected] +44 (0) 7490 688891

Professor Chris Ballentine, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Phone +44 (0) 1865 272 938 https://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/people/chris-ballentine/

Rebecca Tyne, Department of Earth Science, University of Oxford [email protected]

About Oxford University

This work is the result of an international collaboration between the University of Oxford, ExxonMobil, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, California Institute of Technology, CRPG-CNRS Université de Lorraine and the University of Toronto.

The University of Oxford has been ranked number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the sixth year running, and at the heart of this success is our ground-breaking research and innovation. .

Oxford is world-renowned for research excellence and is home to some of the most talented people around the globe. Our work helps millions of people’s lives, solving real-world problems through a massive network of partnerships and collaborations. The broad and interdisciplinary nature of our research sparks imaginative and creative insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialization arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the UK’s highest-patented university and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts. created more than 200 new companies since 1988. More than a third of these companies have been established in the last three years.


JOURNEYS

nature

DOI

10.1038 / s41586-021-04153-3

RESEARCH METHODS

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Rapid microbial methanogenesis during CO2 storage in hydrocarbon reservoirs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

December 22, 2021

REPORT REPORT

N / A

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