To meet the ambitious target set out in the Paris Agreement to keep the temperature rise well below 2°C, all the tools available for reducing CO2 emissions, including CO2 Capture, Utilisation and ...Storage (CCUS), are needed to meet the challenge. Global collaboration is key in advancing CCUS. CO2GeoNet, a pan-European scientific body on CO2 geological storage, has gained visibility and recognition in the European and global arenas, participating in research and providing scientific advice, training and capacity building, and information and communication. A summary of CO2GeoNet’s cooperation activities with countries outside Europe and with international bodies is given here. CO2GeoNet is open to further opportunities as the Association views global cooperation as critical to accelerating the development, recognition and deployment of CCUS as an important and flexible climate change mitigation technology.
As a UNFCCC accredited Research NGO, CO2GeoNet has been deeply involved in bringing the science behind CO2 storage and the rationale for Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) to a wide range of ...stakeholders (including the general public) before, during and after the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris. Key messages on CO2 storage, informed by dialogue with numerous stakeholders, are presented here. The overarching conclusion is that collaboration is needed at an EU and a global level to deploy CCS, a viable and flexible technology ready to play an essential role in completing the climate change mitigation portfolio.
The EU Geocapacity Project aims to obtain an estimation of the potential capacity of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon fields and coal beds in Europe. Prior to this project, ...the availability of data to calculate the storage capacity differed very much in each country. Some of them have already provided estimations for CO2 storage capacities in the framework of previous projects (e.g. GESTCO (FP5) and CASTOR (FP6)), while other countries have not been evaluated at all. Therefore, an important part of the work performed in the frame of the GeoCapacity project has been to homogenise estimation methodologies and reliability of data. Emphasis has been placed on the study of saline aquifers, as this type of geological formation, was until now, the less studied and most poorly understood compared to the depleted oil and gas fields. The work activities were organized in geographical groups to make them easier to manage.
The Group South is composed of four Mediterranean countries: Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia plus Bosnia–Herzegovina. Specific methodologies were adopted in order to achieve different goals: •Creation of maps of regional storage potential•Collection of geological information of storage sites•Estimation of storage capacities•Elaboration of databases to be inserted into GIS•Detailed analysis of case studies and scenarios for economic evaluation•Integration of the storage capacity data with emission sources and pipeline infrastructure Each of the countries belonging to Group South worked and continue to work in order to achieve such goals, despite of their different geological settings. The initial phase of such analyses included mapping of regional aquifers and locations of possible storages and seals described using data from hydrocarbon or water exploration, represented by borehole data and seismic surveys. Later on, structures contained in these aquifers were studied and CO2 storage capacity estimated with a higher precision. The two most promising or best defined structures in every country have been selected for a more detailed study.
As a result of this project, it can be observed that CCS can play an important role in Mediterranean countries, as part of their strategy to mitigate GHG emission. Storage efficiency factor determination is the key issue, and also further exploration for new data.
The effects of local geology on ground-motion amplification and building damage were studied in the Upper Soča valley (western Slovenia), which was struck by an earthquake (
M
LV=5.6) on 12 April ...1998 with an epicentre in the Krn mountains. Nakamura's method of microtremor analysis and one-dimensional modelling based on geophysical data (seismic refraction method, seismic velocity measurements in boreholes and DC electrical sounding) were applied in this study. Both methods showed significantly higher amplification in the frequency range of building vulnerability (2–10 Hz) in the Mala vas area of Bovec than in the central part of the town. This finding is consistent with the distribution of the earthquake damage in the area. In Koritnica, large differences in amplification were observed between the eastern rim of the village, built on carbonate bedrock and its central part lying on glacial deposits. In Čezsoča, where the thickness of fluvial deposits is about 20 m, amplifications between 2 and 3 in the frequency range of 2–10 Hz were obtained. In Plužna, which is located on flysch rocks covered with a thin layer of soil, the amplification in the same frequency range was low. In Sp. Drežniške Ravne, one of the most damaged villages during this earthquake, the amplification function has two distinctive peaks at 2 and 10.5 Hz. In Drežnica, however, where only slight damage was reported, the amplification level in the frequency range 2–10 Hz is low. The findings of this study indicate that large differences in damage to the buildings in the Upper Soča valley could be attributed to variations in the thickness and physical properties of Quaternary deposits, which appear to be rather heterogeneous.
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