Research, Technology, and Education for the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Industrial processes such as the production of cement, iron and steel, and petrochemicals, as well as burning fossil fuels (e.g., gas, oil, and coal) has measurably increased CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere. The long-term consequences of increased concentrations of CO2 gas in Earth’s atmosphere will have negative impacts to oceans and climate.
One possible response is to capture CO2 in industrial settings and reinject it into deep geological reservoirs where it will be retained for long periods of time. This process is called geological sequestration, or carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) seeks to impact global levels of atmospheric CO2 by
- Conducting studies, often focusing on the Gulf of Mexico, in regard to geological storage, retention and monitoring of CO2 in the deep subsurface;
- Educating the public about the process of geological CO2 storage; and
- Enabling the private sector to develop an economically viable industry to store CO2 in the Gulf of Mexico, across the U.S., and globally
Since 1999, the GCCC has been a global leader in research that facilitates a proactive response by energy-related businesses to reduce atmospheric release of CO2. The GCCC has led or is in the process of conducting several major field research projects onshore and offshore to develop effective technologies to monitor retention of CO2 in the subsurface. In addition, the GCCC has led a number of diverse projects including estimation of storage capacity, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) screening and economic assessments, risk and monitoring of leakage to water and surface resources, assessment of pressure, and whole-system integration.
The GCCC is a multidisciplinary group that includes experts in geology, hydrology, petroleum engineering, chemistry, economics, and computer modeling. For more information about the researchers, post-docs, and students who comprise the Carbon Center, please see our staff page.
Recent News
April 29, 2025: Thanks to Katherine Romanak's mentorship, the GCCC congratulates the Shark’s STEM Team from Denham Springs High School for promoting carbon capture & storage technologies while competing on a national level as one of the top 10 teams for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Award ...click to read
April 22, 2025: The GCCC’s TXLA CMC Program Manager Angela Luciano, GCCC undergraduate researcher Cecil Armstrong, and STARR’s Geospatial Analyst Edna Rodriguez Calzado taught university student’s about CCS at UT Austin’s Main Campus during the UT Earth Day Fair…click to read
April 18, 2025: For the Jackson School of Geoscience M.S. Presentation Day, GCCC graduate students Sean Avitt, Argenis Pelayo, and Previna Arumugam will present a final summary of their research…click to read
April 14, 2025: Ramón Gil-Egui will attend a “Workshop on Carbon Management and Community Impact in the Gulf Region” at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX.
April 11, 2025: GCCC M.S. Student, Argenis Pelayo, presents his M.S. research in preparation for JSG M.S. Presentation Day…click to read
April 11, 2025: As part of the GCCC’s weekly meeting JSG’s Asst. Prof. Shujuan Mao presents their research…click to read
April 8, 2025: Congratulations to Carlos Uroza for giving a presentation entitled, “Assessing the CO2 Sequestration Potential of the Paleogene Wilcox Group, Onshore Texas, U.S.A.” for the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Seminar Series…click to read
April 6–8, 2025: Alex Bump attended, and presented, at AAPG’s Gulf Coast Section GeoGulf2025 Conference in Nacodoches, TX, U.S.A…click to read
April 4th, 2025: At the GCCC, Previna Arumugam and Sean Avitt officially kicked off a month of student weekly presentations by presenting a status of where they are with their research projects…click to read
April 3, 2025: Congratulations to William Wang, Seyyed Hosseini, Ramon Trevino, and Susan Hovorka for publishing a manuscript in the Journal of Hydrology.
April 3, 2025: The GCCC welcomes Undergraduate Research Assistant, Mia Chicas, who is currently pursuing a B.S. in Geophysics and will be working with Tip Meckel as an advisor.
March 21, 2025: As part of the University of Houston, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Seminar Series, Research Associate Professor Alex Bump presented a CCS talk…click to read
March 18, 2025: The “STEM Sharks Team” that Katherine Romanak has mentored from Denham Springs High School within the Livingston Parish, Louisiana was not only selected as Louisiana’s State winner in the Samsung Solve Challenge, but as one of the top 10 teams headed to Washington D.C…click to read
March 11, 2025: Congratulations to Hailun Ni, Katherine Romanak, Susan Hovorka, and Australian collaborators for co-authoring a paper entitled, “Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment” in AGU’s Geophysical Research Letters.
March 8, 2025: Congratulations to our EER graduate student, Previna Arumugam, who participated as a panelist for an event entitled, “Women Leading Change! Breaking Barriers, Building Dreams.”
March 7, 2025: Sue Hovorka and Alex Bump are sharing the following proposal to develop the “Gulf Coast Resource Accelerator: A Field Lab for the Energy Transition” …click to read
March 7, 2025: For the GCCC’s weekly meeting, we were joined by representatives from Taiwan’s National Central University (NCU).
March 3–5, 2025: GCCC Researchers Seyyed Hosseini, Sue Hovorka, Hailun Ni, Carlos Uroza, and Shuvajit Bhattacharya attended the SPE-AAPG-SEG CCUS Conference in Houston, TX…click to read
March 1, 2025: The March issue of “World Cement” Magazine features an article written by Katherine Romanak entitled, CCS 101…click to read
Click here to view 2025 news and events.
En español: la información de almacenamiento geológico de carbono
The University of Texas at Austin is proud to be associated with BP’s sponsorship of the GCCC, an activity accredited by BP’s Advancing Low Carbon program.
