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DOE picks projects for federal funding Federal initiative supports technologies for addressing subsurface issues associated with carbon dioxide storage, geothermal energy ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
On July 27 the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it had selected eight research and development projects to receive a total of $11.8 million in funding under the agency’s program for subsurface engineering research and development. The projects target technologies for the storage of waste carbon dioxide and for developing geothermal energy. The DOE program, referred to as the crosscut initiative, is aimed at addressing subsurface technical issues relating to geothermal energy, the mitigation of the impacts of fossil energy development, the storage of greenhouse gases and the disposal of nuclear waste.
“The projects selected today will advance our ability to store captured carbon pollution from the burning of fossil fuels and improve our understanding of renewable geothermal resources - both of which will help us achieve our nation’s climate and clean energy goals,” said Franklin Orr, DOE under secretary for science and energy. “The announcement of these selections also underscores the importance of the crosscutting initiatives that Secretary Moniz has encouraged throughout DOE. Sharing expertise and experiences across the department is helping us make progress on challenging energy science and technology that demand expertise across the science and engineering disciplines.”
Monitoring CO2 storage The projects earmarked for funding include research at Clemson University and the Georgia Institute of Technology into optical fiber strain meters for measuring subsurface deformation at carbon dioxide injection sites, and research by the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Utah and the U.S. Geological Survey into the integration of geophysical and reservoir simulation tools for the monitoring of carbon dioxide movement and storage permanence at a carbon dioxide storage site.
Another research project, conducted by GPUSA Inc., the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory and the Carbon Management Canada Containment and Monitoring Institute, will test a new method for monitoring subsurface carbon dioxide using downhole seismic technology. Funding will also go into a field demonstration by the University of North Dakota, Seismos Inc., CMG Inc. and Denbury Resources Inc. of a low-impact, surface-based technique for the monitoring of carbon dioxide injected into the subsurface.
EPA has also selected a project to be conducted by the University of Texas at Austin, involving the field testing of an ultrahigh-resolution 3-D seismic technique for the monitoring of subsurface carbon storage. The testing will take place at a fully developed carbon capture and storage project offshore the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Geothermal research From the perspective of geothermal energy research, funding will go to a project to be conducted by Baylor University, the University of Nevada-Reno and Hi-Q Geophysical Inc. into the use of seismic technology in geothermal exploration. Another project, to be conducted by the University of Utah, Quantec Geoscience Inc. and Geotech Ltd., will seek to improve technologies for mapping subsurface, fluid-bearing fractures connected to high-temperature heat sources. And U.S. Geothermal Inc., the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Optim Inc. will conduct work aimed at improving the imaging and characterization of the permeability of the subsurface in an area with geothermal resources - the research team will validate their findings at an operational geothermal plant in Nevada.
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