A collective effort to identify and quantify geo-energy risks
The increasing global demand for energy and the imminent need to reduce carbon emissions in our planet has led mankind to find new solutions. Some in the energy industry have taken special interest in geothermal reservoirs, a resource with the potential to provide large amounts of renewable energy....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE)
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10097053/3/Oelkers_A%20collective%20effort%20to%20identify%20and%20quantify%20geo-energy%20risks_AAM.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10097053/ |
| Summary: | The increasing global demand for energy and the imminent need to reduce carbon emissions in our planet has led mankind to find new solutions. Some in the energy industry have taken special interest in geothermal reservoirs, a resource with the potential to provide large amounts of renewable energy. Meanwhile, the storage of carbon dioxide in underground geological formations presents a fantastic opportunity to discard CO2 and mitigate global warming. This study links efforts from academic institutions, industry energy operators, industrial partners and research institutes to answer fundamental scientific questions that can help us understand the subsurface and generate better exploitation practices. We examine the geology of reservoirs used for geothermal energy extraction and carbon dioxide capture. We use a combination of field geology, photogrammetry, mineral analysis and experimental rock mechanics to understand fracture networks and fluid flow paths of two geologically diverse reservoirs in Europe: 1) the Hengill geothermal system in south-west Iceland, and 2) the Carnmenellis granite geothermal system in Cornwall (UK). These results aim to provide experimental data to refine numerical models predicting fluid flow and contribute to the quantification of the associated risks of exploiting the subsurface. |
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