TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage
AU - Blackford, Jerry
AU - Stahl, Henrik
AU - Bull, Jonathan M.
AU - Berges, Benoit J. P.
AU - Cevatoglu, Melis
AU - Lichtschlag, Anna
AU - Connelly, Douglas
AU - James, Rachael H.
AU - Kita, Jun
AU - Long, Dave
AU - Naylor, Mark
AU - Shitashima, Kiminori
AU - Smith, Dave
AU - Taylor, Peter
AU - Wright, Ian
AU - Akhurst, Maxine
AU - Chen, Baixin
AU - Gernon, Tom M.
AU - Hauton, Chris
AU - Hayashi, Masatoshi
AU - Kaieda, Hideshi
AU - Leighton, Timothy G.
AU - Sato, Toru
AU - Sayer, Martin D. J.
AU - Suzumura, Masahiro
AU - Tait, Karen
AU - Vardy, Mark E.
AU - White, Paul R.
AU - Widdicombe, Steve
N1 - Copyright © 2014, Springer Nature
PY - 2014/9/28
Y1 - 2014/9/28
N2 - Fossil fuel power generation and other industrial emissions of carbon dioxide are a threat to global climate1, yet many economies will remain reliant on these technologies for several decades2. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in deep geological formations provides an effective option to remove these emissions from the climate system3. In many regions storage reservoirs are located offshore4, 5, over a kilometre or more below societally important shelf seas6. Therefore, concerns about the possibility of leakage7, 8 and potential environmental impacts, along with economics, have contributed to delaying development of operational CCS. Here we investigate the detectability and environmental impact of leakage from a controlled sub-seabed release of CO2. We show that the biological impact and footprint of this small leak analogue (<1 tonne CO2 d−1) is confined to a few tens of metres. Migration of CO2 through the shallow seabed is influenced by near-surface sediment structure, and by dissolution and re-precipitation of calcium carbonate naturally present in sediments. Results reported here advance the understanding of environmental sensitivity to leakage and identify appropriate monitoring strategies for full-scale carbon storage operations.
AB - Fossil fuel power generation and other industrial emissions of carbon dioxide are a threat to global climate1, yet many economies will remain reliant on these technologies for several decades2. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in deep geological formations provides an effective option to remove these emissions from the climate system3. In many regions storage reservoirs are located offshore4, 5, over a kilometre or more below societally important shelf seas6. Therefore, concerns about the possibility of leakage7, 8 and potential environmental impacts, along with economics, have contributed to delaying development of operational CCS. Here we investigate the detectability and environmental impact of leakage from a controlled sub-seabed release of CO2. We show that the biological impact and footprint of this small leak analogue (<1 tonne CO2 d−1) is confined to a few tens of metres. Migration of CO2 through the shallow seabed is influenced by near-surface sediment structure, and by dissolution and re-precipitation of calcium carbonate naturally present in sediments. Results reported here advance the understanding of environmental sensitivity to leakage and identify appropriate monitoring strategies for full-scale carbon storage operations.
KW - 7ref2021
U2 - 10.1038/NCLIMATE2381
DO - 10.1038/NCLIMATE2381
M3 - Article
SN - 1758-678X
VL - 4
SP - 1011
EP - 1016
JO - Nature Climate Change
JF - Nature Climate Change
IS - 11
ER -