• Energy Research

Carbon capture and storage is a key mitigation strategy proposed for keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 °C. Offshore storage can provide up to 13% of the global CO2 reduction required to achieve the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change goals. The public must be assured that potential leakages from storage reservoirs can be detected and that therefore the CO2 is safely contained. We conducted a controlled release of 675 kg CO2 within sediments at 120 m water depth, to simulate a leak and test novel detection, quantification and attribution approaches. We show that even at a very low release rate (6 kg day−1), CO2 can be detected within sediments and in the water column. Alongside detection we show the fluxes of both dissolved and gaseous CO2 can be quantified. The CO2 source was verified using natural and added tracers. The experiment demonstrates that existing technologies and techniques can detect, attribute and quantify any escape of CO2 from sub-seabed reservoirs as required for public assurance, regulatory oversight and emissions trading schemes.

Abstract We detected a controlled release of CO2 (g) with pH eddy covariance. We quantified CO2 emission using measurements of water velocity and pH in the plume of aqueous CO2 generated by the bubble streams, and using model predictions of vertical CO2 dissolution and its dispersion downstream. CO2 (g) was injected 3 m below the floor of the North Sea at rates of 5.7–143 kg d − 1. Instruments were 2.6 m from the center of the bubble streams. In the absence of injected CO2, pH eddy covariance quantified the proton flux due to naturally-occurring benthic organic matter mineralization (equivalent to a dissolved inorganic carbon flux of 7.6 ± 3.3 mmol m − 2 d − 1, s.e., n = 33). At the lowest injection rate, the proton flux due to CO2 dissolution was 20-fold greater than this. To accurately quantify emission, the kinetics of the carbonate system had to be accounted for. At the peak injection rate, 73 ± 13% (s.d.) of the injected CO2 was emitted, but when kinetics were neglected, the calculated CO2 emission was one-fifth of this. Our results demonstrate that geochemical techniques can detect and quantify very small seafloor sources of CO2 and attribute them to natural or abiotic origins.

Highlights • Approaches for CO2 leakage detection, attribution and quantification monitoring exist. • Many approaches cover multiple monitoring tasks simultaneously. • Sonars and chemical sensors on ships or AUVs can cover large areas. • Newer, more specific technologies can detect, verify and quantify smaller, localised leaks. Environmental monitoring of offshore Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) complexes requires robust methodologies and cost-effective tools to detect, attribute and quantify CO2 leakage in the unlikely event it occurs from a sub-seafloor reservoir. Various approaches can be utilised for environmental CCS monitoring, but their capabilities are often undemonstrated and more detailed monitoring strategies need to be developed. We tested and compared different approaches in an offshore setting using a CO2 release experiment conducted at 120 m water depth in the Central North Sea. Tests were carried out over a range of CO2 injection rates (6 - 143 kg d−1) comparable to emission rates observed from abandoned wells. Here, we discuss the benefits and challenges of the tested approaches and compare their relative cost, temporal and spatial resolution, technology readiness level and sensitivity to leakage. The individual approaches demonstrate a high level of sensitivity and certainty and cover a wide range of operational requirements. Additionally, we refer to a set of generic requirements for site-specific baseline surveys that will aid in the interpretation of the results. Critically, we show that the capability of most techniques to detect and quantify leakage exceeds the currently existing legal requirements.

Abstract We report the first successful use of chemical sensors integrated on to an underwater vehicle to locate, map and estimate flux from a controlled sub-seabed CO2 release, analogous to a leak from a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) reservoir. This has global implications for the efficacy and cost of monitoring of offshore CCS sites and hence public and regulatory confidence as this tool for addressing climate change is considered and rolled out. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with three different pH sensors was deployed to determine the spatial extent of the controlled release. The sensors each operated on a different principle (spectrophotometric, fluorescence, and electrochemical) and the strengths and weaknesses of each sensor are discussed. The sensor data demonstrated that evidence of the plume was limited to within 3 m of the seafloor, as predicted by previous modelling work. The data were then utilised to develop a model of the plume, to extend the spatial coverage of the data. This comparison of the three sensors and the insight into plume dynamics provided by the model would assist in the planning of future plume surveys to ensure the sensor and vehicle combination can resolve the plume of interest.

Abstract Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a potential significant mitigation strategy to combat climate change and ocean acidification. The technology is well understood but its current implementation must be scaled up nearly by a hundredfold to become an effective tool that helps meet mitigation targets. Regulations require monitoring and verification at storage sites, and reliable monitoring strategies for detection and quantification of seepage of the stored carbon need to be developed. The Cseep method was developed for reliable determination of CO2 seepage signal in seawater by estimating and filtering out natural variations in dissolved inorganic carbon (C). In this work, we analysed data from the first-ever subsea CO2 release experiment performed in the north-western North Sea by the EU STEMM−CCS project. We successfully demonstrated the ability of the Cseep method to (i) predict natural C variations around the Goldeneye site over seasonal to interannual time scales; (ii) establish a process-based baseline C concentration with minimal variability; (iii) determine CO2 seepage detection threshold (DT) to reliably differentiate released−CO2 signal from natural variability and quantify released−CO2 dissolved in the sampled seawater. DT values were around 20 % of the natural C variations indicating high sensitivity of the method. Moreover, with the availability of DT value, the identification of released−CO2 required no pre-knowledge of seepage occurrence, but we used additional available information to assess the confidence of the results. Overall, the Cseep method features high sensitivity, automation suitability, and represents a powerful future monitoring tool both for large and confined marine areas.