ADDING A SEISMIC HAZARDS COMPONENT TO GEOLOGICAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION SITE SELECTION

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.