Paper No. 135-11
Presentation Time: 11:10 AM-11:25 AM
ADDING A SEISMIC HAZARDS COMPONENT TO GEOLOGICAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION SITE SELECTION
DAVIDSON, Casie L., Department of Economics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 303 Tanana Drive, Bunnell 201, Box 756080, Fairbanks, AK 99775, ftcld@uaf.edu and DAHOWSKI, Robert T., Energy Science and Technology Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Box 999, K6-10, Richland, WA 99352

Geological sequestration of carbon dioxide is generally regarded as one of the more promising and cost-effective options for mitigating climate change. However, in order for sequestration to help prevent global warming, the CO2 must remain permanently isolated from the atmosphere. For this reason, it is necessary to carefully evaluate potential storage formations to ensure the long-term retention of injected CO2. Assessment of potential geological sequestration sites to date has included discussions of the static ability of the host formation to accept, transmit, and retain the injected CO2. While a significant amount of literature exists on the risks of seismicity induced by fluid injection, very little research has been conducted on the risks of tectonic seismicity in relation to geological sequestration. This project seeks to develop a methodology to help assess the risks associated with seismic activity near potential CO2 sequestration sites. The seismic screening tool will function within a GIS framework to identify areas of increased risk of damage to surface infrastructure and compromised storage formation/caprock system integrity, both of which could result in significant CO2 leakage to the atmosphere. The tool will function on a national scale and will be compatible with GIS-based systems used to screen geological sequestration options for large industrial sources of CO2.

2002 Denver Annual Meeting (October 27-30, 2002)
Session No. 135
Experimental, Field, and Modeling Studies of Geological Carbon Sequestration I
Colorado Convention Center: A205
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Tuesday, October 29, 2002
 

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