Can we store carbon
dioxide on Svalbard?
CLIMIT PhD seminar, Oslo, 28/11/2011
By Kim Senger ([email protected])
Contributions from Kei Ogata, Alvar
Braathen, Jan Tveranger and Snorre
Olaussen
 Atmospheric CO2
contributes to global
warming
 CO2 from point sources
may be stored in
geological aquifers
underground
 Svalbard has
sedimentary rocks and
Norway’s only coalfuelled plant
IPCC (2007)
Motivation
Talk outline
 Introduction
 Geological storage of CO2
 Geological setting
 Longyearbyen CO2 lab
 Leakage monitoring
 Methods
 Results
 Natural fractures
 Magmatic intrusions
 Reservoir modeling
 Conclusions
Geological storage of CO2
From Benson & Cole (2008), modified from
http://www.co2crc.com.au/ABOUT/
Geological
setting
•Target
interval –
shallow
marine sst at
~670-970m
depth In
borehole 4
•De Geerdalen
Fm. and
Wilhelmøya
Subgroup
Ogata et al (submitted)
Longyearbyen CO2 laboratory
Isfjorden
Deltaneset
LYB
Longyearbyen:
60 000
Sleipner:
1 000 000
World:
29 888 121 000
Data from LYB Lokalstyre, Statoil and IEA
Leakage monitoring
 Everything
leaks!
 How large
amounts
are
detectable?
 How long
does
leakage
take?
From British Geological Survey
Methods
Outcrop
Model
Dershowitz & Herda (1992)
Results:
Natural fractures
Artesian flow in
overburden
Festningen sst
Data from Orchard et al 2009
and Farokhpoor et al 2010
Ogata et al (submitted)
Ogata et al (submitted)
Ogata et al (submitted)
Magmatic intrusions
•Frostistinden ↑
Source: USGS
•Mt St Helens →
Photo by Winfried Dallmann
Reservoir modeling
Fracture orientation
per zone
Upscaling
Streamline
simulations
Conclusions
 The Longyearbyen CO2 lab is an ideal test site
for monitoring the leakage of modest amounts
of CO2
 Natural fractures are critical for fluid flow, and
good quality outcrop and borehole data is
required to represent them accurately in
reservoir models
 We can store at least some CO2 on Svalbard
References





Benson, S. M., and Cole, D. R., 2008, CO2 Sequestration in Deep Sedimentary Formations:
Elements, v. 4, no. 5, p. 325-331.
Dershowitz, W. S., and Herda, H. H., 1992, Interpretation of fracture spacing and intensity, in
Tillerson, and Wawersik, eds., Rock Mechanics: Rotterdam, Balkerna, p. 10.
IPCC, 2007, Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. An Assessment of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change: IPCC.
Ogata, K., Senger, K., Braathen, A., Tveranger, J., and Olaussen, S., submitted, The
importance of natural fractures for CO2 sequestration on Spitsbergen, Svalbard: Special
Publications, Geological Society of London.
Orchard, N., Braathen, A., and Mørk, A., 2009, Permeability of sandstones in drill core from
well Dh2/Dh1a of Longyearbyen CO2 lab: UNIS.
Thank you! And now please welcome
Dioxy, the friendly carbon molecule!