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, the risks and mitigation measures associated with carbon capture and storage deployment
- 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 1998, 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
December 17, 2024: Alex Bump will be the keynote speaker at The Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain’s (GESGB’s) CCS4G Symposium, organized by the “Exploring the Energy Transition” Special Interest Group…click to read
October 21–25, 2024: Representatives from the Gulf Coast Carbon Center have 15 presentations at the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technology Conference (GHGT-17) held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada…click to read
October 18, 2024: Sue Hovorka presented “Carbon Capture and Storage - Update on New Uses of Subsurface Resources” at the NARO National Convention…click to read
October 11, 2024: At our weekly GCCC meeting this week, our current GCCC Research Assistants were provided with the GCCC’s outreach training…click to read
October 10, 2024: The GCCC’s Researcher Tip Meckel was interviewed about the largest CCS lease in the U.S. history to date…click to read
October 9, 2024: Ramón Treviño presented an overview about the GCCC and our CCS research, past, present and future to two visitors from Texas University Lands…click to read
October 8–10, 2024: The GCCC’s Sue Hovorka, Angela Luciano, and Ramón Gil-Egui attended Climate Now’s public information meetings in the cities of Beaumont, Pasadena, and Texas City in Texas…click to read
September 30, 2024: The GCCC’s PI, Susan Hovorka, presented on “Storage as part of CCS” to a student group studying “Negative Emissions Technology” at UT’s Engineering Department…click to read
September 26, 2024: Susan Hovorka traveled to Leesville within the Vernon Parish, LA to discuss the geologic aspects of storage with a community focus group…click to read
September 25, 2024: Congratulations to GCCC Principal Investigators Alex Bump, Seyyed Abolfazl Hosseini and Katherine Romanak, the Gulf of Mexico Basin Opportunities (GuMBO) was selected for funding…click to read
September 23–25, 2024: Postdoctoral Fellow, Zhicheng (William) Wang attended the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in New Orleans, LA…click to read
September 23, 2024: The GCCC celebrated the Texas-Louisiana Carbon Management Community’s (TXLA CMC’s) Birthday…click to read
September 23, 2024: Our researcher, Hailun Ni, and 3 of her students from her CCS course are featured on the SPE-AAPG-SEG CCUS Conference page for 2025…click to read
September 20, 2024: GCCC Representatives presented at the 10th Annual Bureau of Economic Geology’s Research Symposium...click to read
September 17–19, 2024: Sue Hovorka, Katherine Romanak, Tip Meckel, and Angela Luciano traveled to Port Arthur, Texas to attend the 7th International Workshop on Offshore Geologic Storage about CO2 storage offshore…click to read
September 17, 2024: For those interested at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Seyyed Hosseini and Zhicheng (William) Wang organized a “Carbon Dioxide Storage Simulation Training” session by Dr. Damilola Ajose-Ogunlana from SLB…click to read
September 11–13, 2024: Katherine Romanak and Alex Bump presented at the “3rd Energy Group CCS Symposium: Characterization and Monitoring of Containment” held by the Energy Group of the Geological Society of London…click to read
September 10–12, 2024: Both Sue Hovorka and Seyyed Hosseini attended and presented at the 2024 Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) Annual Forum in Nashville, TN...click to read
September 6, 2024: GCCC Representatives had an informal meeting with Ben Wernette from SSEB…click to read
September 6, 2024: The GCCC had the first official group meeting of the fall 2024 semester that focused on new student introductions and an orientation...click to read
September 6, 2024: Seyyed Hosseini is invited to give a talk in Oklahoma at The University of Tulsa’s McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering…click to read
September 4, 2024: The GCCC’s Senior Research Professor and Scientist, Tip Meckel, testified for the Texas Senate Finance Committee on the benefits of offshore CO2 storage at the Texas State Capitol…click to read
September 4, 2024: Excited to announce that Seyyed Hosseini and co-authors published a manuscript entitled, "Dynamic Modeling of Geological Carbon Storage in Aquifers – Workflows and Practices" in the October issue of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control…click to read
September 3, 2024: Congratulations to Hongsheng Wang, Ruichang Guo, Laura E. Dalton, Dustin Crandall, Seyyed A. Hosseini, Ming Fan, and Cheng Chen for publishing, “Comparative Assessment of U-Net-Based Deep Learning Models for Segmenting Microfractures and Pore Spaces in Digital Rocks” in the SPE Journal…click to read
September 1, 2024: Congratulations to Reza Ershadnia and Seyyed Hosseini for authoring a manuscript in the Journal of Hydrology…click to read
August 26–30, 2024: The GCCC’s Carlos Uroza and Shuvajit Bhattacharya will attend SEG-AAPG-Image Conference in Houston, TX…click to read
August 23, 2024: Sue Hovorka provided a brown bag seminar entitled, "How the Underground Injection Control Program provides support to the new field of Carbon Management” to the TCEQ....click to read
August 21, 2024: Katherine Romanak attended, and participated on a panel at, the National Conservative Energy Summit in Houston, Texas…click to read
August 21, 2024: Tip Meckel presented HR3D from San Luis Pass & A Summary of NASM Workshop on Plugging Abandoned Wells in the GCCC’s weekly meeting…click to read
August 21, 2024: Sue Hovorka was the guest speaker for the Enverus Innovation Underground webinar series, based out of Calgary in Alberta, Canada....click to read
August 20, 2024: Sue Hovorka had a virtual presentation entitled, “Siting and monitoring successful CO2 storage projects: What is new and developing?” at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Conference....click to read
August 16, 2024: The Gulf Coast Carbon Center welcomes 5 graduate students to our program at The University of Texas at Austin…click to read
Click here to view 2024 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.
