Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) will be a key component of achieving net zero emissions, and EESA scientists are working on monitoring and modeling techniques to ensure it is safe and effective. GCS requires compressing captured CO2 into a liquid form, then pumping it thousands of feet down into porous layers of bedrock where the immense pressure and encasing rock layers keep it entombed for thousands or millions of years.
EESA scientists are at the forefront of solving the remaining science challenge of deploying GCS at the gigaton scale necessary to achieve net zero. Their work includes:
- Evaluating the fundamental mechanisms leading to CO2 trapping in the subsurface
- Monitoring the migration of CO2 deep underground to demonstrate it is secured permanently
- Conducting risk analysis and field monitoring to ensure that CO2 injection does not provoke unwanted seismicity, which could cause leaks or earthquakes
- Gaining a sound understanding of the basin-scale impacts of a gigaton GCS future and develop new tools for basin-scale optimization