Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage
Projects Overview
The Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage (SCCS), established in 2005 with funding from The Scottish Funding Council, is a partnership between the British Geological Survey, Heriot Watt University and The University of Edinburgh, and is the UK’s largest grouping of CO2 Storage researchers. The centre combines world-class expertise based on petroleum and hydrocarbon geoscience in 3D regional and field scale geological modelling, geophysics, geo-engineering and subsurface fluid flow. The Centre also has expertise across the full Carbon Capture & Storage chain, and frequently provides media assistance (print, radio, and TV), advice to UK and Scottish Government, and Policy advice and opinion. The Centre is expanding by linking to established research in chemical engineering and recruitment of new staff and researchers to create expertise in Carbon Capture. This will be both at the very large industrial scale in power plants, and by innovating expertise in biological capture from vegetation, and soil re-carbonation.
Overview of SCCS Research Projects UKERC The Centre provides expertise and information to lead the UK Energy Research Centre theme on Carbon Management. The role of UKERC is to provide unbiased information on future sources of energy supply relevant to the UK. UKERC has compiled the UK Atlas of research in CCS, and has also produced the only road map signposting the sociotechnical pathway to deployment of CCS in the UK. Scottish CCS Joint Study Opportunities for CO2 Storage around Scotland An integrated strategic regional study combining the appraisal of CO2 Sources & Stores, Economics of Transport & Infrastructure and Commercial Models for CO2 Storage.
CO2 Industrial Consortium Eleven Industry Partners have joined the SCCS research consortium, contributing over £550,000 towards PhD studentships. Each industry partner subscribes to fund a single project and the research outcome from each project is shared. Although each project is specific in nature the combined research will represent key elements of the entire CCS supply chain. Participants include; ARUP; BG Group; BP; E-On; Schlumberger; Scottish and Southern Energy; Scottish Enterprise; ScottishPower; Shell; and PhD projects are listed at www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs/Projects/
The Scottish Government and 17 commercial organisations, with operational interests in Scotland, are funding the project and include: Accenture; BG Group; CO2 DeepStore; ConocoPhillips (U.K.) Limited; Doosan Babcock; Hydrogen Energy International Limited; INEOS; Marathon Oil; National Grid, Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd; RWE Npower, Scottish and Southern Energy; ScottishPower; Wood Mackenzie. Download the full report at www.erp.ac.uk/sccs TSB - Technology Programme CO2 Aquifer Storage Evaluation Site and Monitoring (CASSEM). A £2.5 Million project, funded by EPSRC and industry, is developing methodologies, workflows and insights essential for the successful identification and evaluation of safe and effective CO2 storage sites in offshore saline aquifers. The project will select on-shore and/or near-shore sites from which useful analogue data and information can be obtained in order to characterise important aquifer and cap rock systems. Such onshore data acquisition enables key information to be gathered (through outcrop and/or borehole sampling) at much lower cost than could be achieved for offshore storage options. The analogue information will include measurements of a range of rock, fluid and subsurface properties. These are important for the characterisation of injectivity, capacity and integrity, as well as enabling careful monitoring and verification of any CO2 injection site both during injection and after its closure.
CO2 DeepStore
Science & Innovation Award (EPSRC) The Centre is funded with £4M from EPSRC, and a further £0.9M from Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Funding Council. This will focus on new technologies of CO2 separation at power plants by adsorption onto surfaces of specially designed materials, or “filtration” of CO2 from power plant flue gases by newly created semi-permeable membranes. Additional expertise will create the first co-ordinated UK effort on CO2 capture from atmosphere, to directly reduce CO2 levels. This will adapt the forestry and agricultural uses of waste products to provide sustainable biofuel and also to re-carbonise soil.
The CASSEM project will deliver key best practice and scientific insights into issues essential for the successful development of large CO2 storage resources. Industrial members of CASSEM are; AMEC, Marathon Oil Schlumberger, Scottish and Southern Energy and ScottishPower.
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Education & Training
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Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage
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Short Courses and Full-time MSc Programmes The challenge of finding new technological and business solutions to the problem of climate change requires people with new skills. The SCCS has developed a set of Continuing Professional Development courses targeting professionals – existing and aspiring – who wish to be able to tackle climate change in practice. Geology for Engineers: This one-day course aims to enable participants to work and have dialogue with geoscientists while engaged on CCS projects. The course covers basics of geology with an orientation towards practical CO2 storage applications. CO2 Injection for Geological storage and EOR: This one day course is designed to provide a summary of multiphase-flow related issues pertinent to CO2 injection in geologic formations MSc in Carbon Management: This Programme provides high-level interdisciplinary skills and training in the business, economics and science of carbon management. Further information at www.geos.ed.ac.uk/masters. MSc in Carbon Capture & Storage: This will be the first in the world. It is intended to cover issues along the entire CCS chain from capture plant design to carbon storage monitoring, regulation and finance. CCS World Map: An interactive map showing commercially significant CCS sites (planned or operational) around the globe. www.geos.ed.ac.uk/ccsmap
For further information contact Stuart Simmons at +44 (0) 131 650 8516 stuart.simmons@ed.ac.uk www.erp.ac.uk/sccs
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