A new study by Heriot-Watt University aims to identify the UK’s best sites and produce a roadmap for carbon storage.
Using data from the Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) National Data Repository (NDR), researchers will map out the UK’s best sites for carbon capture by studying the geology of depleted gas fields in the North Sea. The project will receive funding from the OGTC’s Subsurface Solution Centre, which is supporting accelerating decarbonisation technologies in the UK.
Professor John Underhill, Heriot-Watt University: “The Southern North Sea faces three of some of the UK’s largest carbon emission areas: the industrial hubs of Teesside, Humberside and the Thames estuary” … “It also has a number of depleted gas fields that could be re-purposed to store carbon” … “We are going to systematically examine the geology of these sites and determine which critical factors allow carbon to be safely stored over long, geological timescales.”
Gillian White, Subsurface Solution Center Manager at the OGTC: “Ultimately this project will give policymakers the tools they need to determine the most suitable sites for carbon capture and storage, which is aligned with OGTC’s vision to transform the UKCS into a net zero basin.”
Ref: UK Roadmap for Carbon Storage study, by Heriot-Watt University