UK-Texas CCS Technology and Legislation Seminar

UK-Texas CCS Technology and Legislation Seminar is a joint effort by scientists from GCCC and the United Kingdom to examine Texas and United Kingdom perspectives on the geological sequestration of CO₂ and the underpinning science, technology and developing legislation.

The first seminar was held on December 6 and 7, 2009 in Houston, TX. Major topics of discussion covered:

• CCS and EOR conversion
• CCS and public acceptance
• Incentives for CCS and current legislation
• Offshore storage
• Groundwater monitoring case study

The seminar speakers included:

• Dr. Stuart Haszeldine, Prof. of Sedimentary Geology, University of Edinburgh
• Ian Havercroft, Senior Research Fellow - Environmental Law, University College London
• Dr. Tara La Force, Asst. Prof. of Petroleum Engineering, Imperial College London
• Dr. Jon Gluyas, Prof. of Petroleum Geoscience, University of Durham
• Dr. Tip Meckel, Research Assoc., Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
• Rebecca Smyth, Project Manager, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
• Dr. Steven Bryant, Assoc. Prof. of Petroleum & Geosciences Engineering, UT-Austin
• Amy Hardberger, Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

The seminar was hosted by:

• Dr. Susan Hovorka, Principal Investigator, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
• Dr. Mike Stephenson, Head of Energy, British Geological Survey
• Dr. May Akrawi, Consul for Science & Innovation, British Consulate-General Houston

A follow-up UK-Texas seminar focused on the assessment and evaluation of underground carbon storage capacity is planned for spring of 2010.

May Akrawi
Consul, Science & Innovation
British Consulate-General Houston
may.akrawi@fco.gov.uk

May is a British scientist with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, both from University College London. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in Barcelona, she worked in London as a Scientific Research Analyst at a US Law firm on product liability litigation for blue chip clients and established networks of scientific and medical consultants world-wide. She then moved to the biotech field, working as a Programme Manager for Pharmaceutical Discovery at a business information company; she later joined In Vitro Technologies in Baltimore, Maryland to head up their first European office in London. May Joined the British Consulate-General in 2002 to lead the science section, covering the six southwest US states, and has been working on facilitating US-UK science and technology collaborations and on climate change and energy policy.

Steven Bryant
Associate Professor, Petroleum Engineering
University of Texas at Austin
steven_bryant@mail.utexas.edu

Since 2004, Dr. Bryant has served as the Director of the Geological CO₂ Storage Industry Project. In 2005, he received the departmental teaching award and in 2003 was the recipient of the Outstanding Technical Editor Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers where he also served as a Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer from 2001-2002. Dr. Bryant is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Dr. Bryant is published widely and frequently conducts industrial and professional society lectures in geological storage of CO₂ and on fundamentals of porous media. Prior to joining the faculty of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department, he served as the Associate Director of the Center for Subsurface Modeling at the University of Texas from 1996-2002. He received his B.E. (summa cum laude) in Chemical Engineering in 1981 from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. Other professional experience includes working as a visiting scientist for the Colloid Chemistry Group at EniTecnologie in Italy; as a computer modeling engineer with BP Chemical R&D in Scotland, and as a research engineer with BP Research in England.

Jon Gluyas
Professor of Petroleum Geoscience
University of Durham
j.g.gluyas@durham.ac.uk

Professor Gluyas holds the newly created chair in Geoenergy, Carbon Capture & Storage at the University of Durham. He is also the current president of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and a director of Geojoule a geothermal energy company. Jon took the role at Durham in October 2009 having held a honourary chair there since 1999. Until taking the full post at university, Jon worked in the oil industry for 28 years. This followed a PhD in geochemistry and BSc in geology. In 2005, Jon co-founded Fairfield Energy.

In his current role, Jon is responsible for the carbon capture and storage research at Durham together with geoenergy research including that associated with petroleum, geothermal and coal. He is a director of Durham's Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems and serves on the board of Durham Energy Institute. Jon has published widely during his career with most of the papers addressing sediment and petroleum geochemistry or production and redevelopment. Jon served on the ruling council and strategy board for the Geological Society between 2003 and 2006. Jon received the Aberconway Medal from The Geological Society in 2000 for excellence in applied geology.

Amy Hardberger
Hydrologist/Attorney
Environmental Defense Fund (Texas Office)
ahardberger@environmentaldefense.org

Ms. Hardberger works with the Energy Program and the Land, Water, & Wildlife Program primarily on Texas law and policy issues. Ms. Hardberger holds a bachelors degree and a Masters of Science in Geology and a doctor of jurisprudence from Texas Tech University School of Law. She is also a professional registered geologist in Texas. Prior to joining Environmental Defense Fund, Ms. Hardberger completed a judicial clerkship with the Honorable William Wayne Justice of the Western District of Texas and worked as an environmental consultant. Her past research focused on international groundwater issues and the human right to water. Currently, she works on municipal water conservation, the energy/water nexus and carbon sequestration.

Stuart Haszeldine
Professor of Geology
University of Edinburgh
s.haszeldine@ed.ac.uk

Stuart's current research examines geological storage of CO₂, in the context of climate change and changing energy use. He is a topic leader for the Carbon Management theme of the UK Energy Research Centre. He leads the UK's largest university research group for CO₂ storage and capture (at Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and British Geological Survey at Edinburgh) and is co-leader of the academic UK Carbon Capture and Storage Consortium. He was a technical advisor to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on CCS in 2006 and is currently (2007-10) a member of the independent ACCAT committee advising UK Government (DECC) on Carbon Abatement Technologies. He has provided numerous comments on Carbon Capture and Storage to the print radio and TV media, and is invited speaker on CCS at public and technical conferences.

Ian Havercroft
Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Law
University College London
i.havercroft@ucl.ac.uk

Ian is Senior Research Fellow in environmental law at UCL Law Faculty's Centre for Law and the Environment. He joined the Faculty in May 2004, following the completion of his Masters degree. He maintains a strong research interest in energy and environmental law and he is the lead researcher on the Carbon Capture Legal Programme, an initiative aiming to provide a comprehensive and authoritative source of objective and up to date legal information on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Ian also worked with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to set up the International CCS Regulators Network, participated in their CCS roadmapping exercise, and served as an expert reviewer for the IEA's recent report on CCS, 'CO₂ Capture and Storage - A Key Abatement Option', which was published in 2008. His most recent work has centred upon domestic and EU environmental law and policy and he has conducted research on behalf of; the European Commission (DG Environment), The Cabinet Office, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, RPS Group plc and Haymarket Media Group.

Susan Hovorka
Senior Research Scientist
Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin
susan.hovorka@beg.utexas.edu

Susan Hovorka specializes in environmental problems applying technology and approaches developed to improve hydrocarbon recovery, and has worked on a wide variety of geologic research requiring multi-disciplinary synthesis. Current research is testing the application of geologic storage of carbon dioxide to reduce atmospheric emission (www.gulfcoastcarbon.org). Currently she is leading a team working on large scale field pilot monitoring injection at Cranfield Mississippi, which is currently injection at 100 MMT/year into >3000m deep sandstones for EOR. A 1 MMT/year test is in design. She was team lead for the recently concluded Frio Brine field pilot CO₂ injection to assess the cost, safety, and effectiveness of geologic sequestration as a mechanism for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions . She is the chief scientist of the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, an academic-industry consortium seeking an economic basis on which to move forward on carbon sequestration. She is also active on facilitating exchange between the applied scientists and citizens, with a focus on pre-college students and teachers.

Tara LaForce
Assistant Professor
Department of Earth Science & Engineering
Imperial College London
t.laforce@imperial.ac.uk

Dr. LaForce is a lecturer (assistant professor) of petroleum engineering in the department of earth science and engineering at Imperial College London. She has an MS in computational and applied mathematics and a PhD in petroleum engineering, both from the University of Texas at Austin. Previously she has held the position of acting assistant professor at Stanford University and assistant professor at University of Wyoming. Her primary research areas are analytical solutions for three-phase multicomponent systems, design of secure CO₂ storage in aquifers and oilfields and development of improved simulation techniques for subsurface multiphase flow.

Tip Meckel
Research Associate
Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin
tip.meckel@beg.utexas.edu

Dr. Tip Meckel earned his Master's degree from the University of Montana in Missoula in 1998 and his doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin in 2003. He joined the Gulf Coast Carbon Center at the Bureau in 2006, focusing on geologic characterization and pressure evolution for carbon dioxide injections. With Dr. Hovorka, Tip currently directs the DOE-funded SECARB Partnership Project in Cranfield Mississippi.

Rebecca C. Smyth
Project Manager
Gulf Coast Carbon Center, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
rebecca.smyth@beg.utexas.edu

Ms. Smyth has a diverse background in geological sciences, and her association with GCCC has led her to focus on storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in geologic units deeper than 800 meters below the surface—a practice known as geologic sequestration. A graduate in geology from Virginia Tech, Ms. Smyth received her Master's in hydrogeology from UT Austin. Prior to joining BEG in 1997, Ms. Smyth worked 10+ years for private groundwater consulting firms in Austin, Texas. More recently, she has been sampling groundwater in a west Texas oilfield for CO₂ sequestration research while serving as Principle Investigator of the Southwest Partnership for Carbon Sequestration Groundwater Monitoring Research at BEG, and "Site Manager of the SACROC Oil-Field-Site CO₂ Injection Experiment."

Mike Stephenson
Head of Science (Energy)
British Geological Survey
mhste@bgs.ac.uk

December 6, 2009 UK-Texas Technology and Legislation Pre-Workshop Event

12:30 pm Lunch and Workshop with UK – Discussion of UK-Texas Collaborative Opportunities

1:00 pm Welcome Remarks
Dr. May Akrawi, Consul, Science & Innovation, British Consulate-General

Discussion led by Dr. Mike Stephenson, Head of Energy, British Geological Survey

2:15 pm Coffee Break

2:30 pm Discussion led by Dr. Susan Hovorka, Principal Investigator, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin

4:00 pm Discussion ends

December 7, 2009 UK-Texas Technology and Legislation Seminar

8: 00 am Breakfast and registration

9:00 am Welcome Remarks
Dr. May Akrawi, Consul, Science & Innovation, British Consulate-General

9:05 am UK CCS Panel
Moderated by Dr. Mike Stephenson, Head of Energy, British Geological Survey

• Dr. Stuart Haszeldine, Prof. of Sedimentary Geology, University of Edinburgh
• Ian Havercroft, Research Fellow, Environmental Law, University College London
• Dr. Tara LaForce, Asst. Prof. of Petroleum Engineering, Imperial College London
• Dr. Jon Gluyas, Prof. of Petroleum Geoscience, University of Durham

10:00 am Coffee Break

10:15 am Texas CCS Panel
Moderated by Dr. Susan Hovorka, Principal Investigator, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin

• Dr. Tip Meckel, Research Assoc., Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
• Rebecca Smyth, Project Manager, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
• Dr. Steven Bryant, Assoc. Prof. of Petroleum & Geosciences Engineering, UT-Austin
• Amy Hardberger, Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

11:15 am Closing remarks, workshop concludes

May Akrawi
Consul, Science & Innovation
British Consulate-General Houston
may.akrawi@fco.gov.uk

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Akrawi's presentation.

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Steven Bryant
Associate Professor, Petroleum Engineering
University of Texas at Austin
steven_bryant@mail.utexas.edu

Abstract
Implementing geologic storage of CO₂ at a material scale (ca. 1 Gt C/y) will require an industry comparable in size to the current oil and gas industry and a workforce trained in subsurface engineering. Since the same technologies that apply to hydrocarbon production apply to the subsurface storage of CO₂, petroleum engineering (PE) graduates will be valuable candidates to work in the carbon storage industry. We expect however that the demand for PEs from the oil and gas industry will increase, and that already strained educational capacity will not be sufficient to supply both industries. Thus we advocate building new targeted educational infrastructure. We present a model curriculum based on an existing accredited multidisciplinary degree program. This program combines the fundamentals of petroleum engineering with the subsurface architecture emphasis of geology and the environmental perspective of hydrogeology. We indicate key elements of this program that could be integrated with other, more traditional undergraduate engineering majors that also deal with the subsurface.

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Bryant's presentation.

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Jon Gluyas
Professor of Petroleum Geoscience
University of Durham
j.g.gluyas@durham.ac.uk

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Gluyas' presentation.

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Amy Hardberger
Hydrologist/Attorney
Environmental Defense Fund (Texas Office)
ahardberger@environmentaldefense.org

Click here for link to pdf of Ms. Hardberger's presentation.

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Stuart Haszeldine
Professor of Geology
University of Edinburgh
s.haszeldine@ed.ac.uk

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Haszeldine's presentation.

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Ian Havercroft
Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Law
University College London
i.havercroft@ucl.ac.uk

Click here for link to pdf of Mr. Havercroft's presentation.

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Susan Hovorka
Senior Research Scientist
Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin
susan.hovorka@beg.utexas.edu

Abstract
Public acceptance is composed of two elements: First, technical information that shows that the benefits of geologic sequestration outweigh the risks, and second transmission of this information to decision makers (legislators, diverse energy industries, environmental NGOs, local communities). A series of field tests fill both needs, and several case studies will be discussed. Field tests provide monitoring data documenting the performance of the subsurface during and after CO₂ injection; they also provide the venue for decision makers to observe how this process works.

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Tara LaForce
Assistant Professor
Department of Earth Science & Engineering
Imperial College London
t.laforce@imperial.ac.uk

Abstract
Large-scale CO₂ injection into the subsurface is a key technology to lower CO₂ emissions from point sources such as power plants. Deep saline aquifers have by far the largest capacity of potential storage space, however many are poorly characterized, which increases risk of leakage through undetected faults or gaps in the caprock. Gas and oil fields are much less extensive but are secure storage locations for CO₂, as the presence of hydrocarbons proves their ability to contain buoyant fluids for geological timescales. Moreover, great deal is known about their size and ability to conduct fluids efficiently and the profits from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as a result of CO₂ flooding may offset the cost of storage. In this work, we propose using combined CO₂ and water injection to engineer a more secure storage strategy in both aquifers and oilfields. Injection of water and CO₂ increases the volume of the reservoir that comes in contact with CO₂, allowing for substantially increased capillary trapping of the supercritical-CO₂ phase during the injection phase of the project, and decreasing the reliance on an impermeable caprock to contain buoyant CO₂. Counter-intuitively, injection of mixed water and CO₂ has the further benefit of increasing the oil recovery and volume of CO₂ that can be stored in a combined CO₂/EOR project because of minimized gas cycling. Finally, we will look at the incremental oil recovery that results from CO₂ flooding and discuss the implications of increased CO₂ emissions as a result of the EOR process.

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. LaForce's presentation.

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Tip Meckel
Research Associate
Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin
tip.meckel@beg.utexas.edu

Abstract
Prior to commercialization and widespread deployment of CCS, geologic storage concepts need to be well understood. The Bureau of Economic Geology has designed and conducted multiple field injection tests and studies to address relevant questions regarding reservoir, seal, and well performance. Summaries of these field tests will be provided, with an emphasis on those aspects that pertain to the evolving regulatory environment.

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Meckel's presentation.

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Rebecca C. Smyth
Project Manager
Gulf Coast Carbon Center, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT-Austin
rebecca.smyth@beg.utexas.edu

Abstract
A primary objective of carbon capture and storage (CCS) environmental regulations will be to protect drinking water resources. Results from a field study of groundwater quality over the SACROC oilfield in Scurry County, TX, U.S.A. are notable and have bearing because we see no evidence of impact to shallow (50-500 ft) drinking water as a result of 35+ years of CO₂ injection for EOR at depths of 6-7,000 ft. Over 75 measurements of water levels in abandoned, domestic, stock, industrial, and irrigation well types help define potentiometric surface and water table elevations and flow directions of several hydraulically isolated water-bearing zones. We sampled 60 wells from all five types for water quality during four trips over two years for a total of 114 samples. Water chemistry from freshwater wells over SACROC lies within regional variability defined over a 250 mi2 area. Analyte concentrations do not change significantly along groundwater flow paths radiating out from SACROC. Ranges of data for 25 analytes evaluated in historical and recent water chemistry from data collected over SACROC and regionally did not change after beginning of CO₂ injection in 1972. A comparison of water quality samples to EPA drinking water standards shows a greater number of exceedences falling outside of SACROC (# wells) compared to inside of SACROC (# wells). Indications are that if conduit flow has allowed CO₂ to infiltrate drinking water resources overlying SACROC, there have been no obvious or wide-spread impacts to water quality. This also implies that the oilfield operator is doing a good job of maintaining deep production/injection zone well integrity and containing injectate CO₂ at SACROC.

Click here for link to pdf of Ms. Smyth's presentation.

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Mike Stephenson
Head of Science (Energy)
British Geological Survey
mhste@bgs.ac.uk

Click here for link to pdf of Dr. Stephenson's presentation.

About the UK Science & Innovation Network: The Science & Innovation Team in Houston is part of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office's network of global science attaches. They work to facilitate collaborations between science and innovation providers and users in the UK and the United States in industry, academia and research institutions. In addition, they keep UK policy-makers fully informed about research and policy developments in the US, as well as promote the UK as a world-class leader in science and innovation. The S&I Network also reports on policy developments, strategy and emerging priorities and facilitates international negotiations and collaborations in areas such as climate change, stem cell research, nanotechnology and low carbon technologies. For more information, please contact S&I Consul Dr. May Akrawi on may.akrawi@fco.gov.uk or 713-659-6270 (x2134).

About the British Geological Survey: BGS (www.bgs.ac.uk) is the national geological survey of the United Kingdom. BGS has a long and successful history of CCS and has one of the largest geological storage research groups in the world. The BGS CCS team (www.bgs.ac.uk/education/carboncapture/) co-ordinated the ground-breaking CCS Joule 2 project in the mid-1990s and since then have taken a leading research role in CCS via a number of major projects. We also provide advice to the UK Government in developing the UK legislative framework for CO₂ storage. In the last two years BGS has carried out more than 50 CO₂ storage projects for a range of customers, including the EU, industry and the UK and overseas governments. These include site characterisation, storage capacity estimation, performance assessment and site monitoring design. For more information please contact John Stephenson on (mhste@bgs.ac.uk) or see www.bgs.ac.uk/

 

About the Bureau of Economic Geology: The Bureau of Economic Geology, established in 1909, is the oldest research unit at The University of Texas at Austin. The Bureau, part of The John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, also functions as the State Geological Survey. The Bureau not only curates the largest volume of subsurface core and cuttings in the United States at three world-class centers located in Houston, Austin, and Midland, but also runs a major Texas well log library, with nearly 1 million well records on file. The Bureau serves as the Regional Lead Organization for the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council and Managing Organization for the Advanced Energy Consortium. Centers include the Gulf Coast Carbon Center and Center for Energy Economics. For more information please contact Susan Hovorka on (susan.hovorka@beg.utexas.edu) or see www.beg.utexas.edu/

Special thanks to our workshop partners.