Website launched as partnership to support UK carbon dioxide storage
19 June 2013
19th June 2013
The Crown Estate and the British Geological Survey have launched a new website, CO2 Stored, giving access to world-leading information on carbon dioxide (CO2) storage data around the UK continental shelf.
The UK is estimated to have one of the largest CO2 storage capacities in Europe and this new website will enable stakeholders to understand the role Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can play in supporting a diverse, affordable and secure energy supply in the UK.
CO2 Stored
The data contained within CO2 Stored details comprehensive information on offshore CO2 geological storage sites around the UK, the first country to have this information, so helping industry and government make more informed decisions. It identifies a UK storage potential of 78 billion tonnes of CO2 in offshore geological storage sites - in effect a national asset. CO2 Stored provides access to data covering:
• nearly 600 units of storage in either depleted oil, gas fields or saline aquifers around the UK
• 25 categories such as pore volume, capacity and injectivity
• geological seal, faults and connectivity characteristics
• economics analyses and modelling.
Available to users under licence, the facility will mean anyone interested in the characteristics of this potentially vital UK resource will now have the information at their fingertips.
The launch is the first major milestone of a £1 million, five year partnership programme between The Crown Estate and the British Geological Survey. The next stage of development, due later in 2013, will introduce an updated interactive map.
The database builds on the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) £4 million UK CO2 Storage Appraisal project (UKSAP) which was commissioned and funded by the ETI. UKSAP, led by Senergy Alternative Energy, involved a collaboration of the UK's leading industrial and academic experts in CO2 geological storage. Standard methodologies were used throughout to create the database and ensure that data is consistent, auditable and defensible.
Dr Ward Goldthorpe, Programme Manager Carbon Capture Storage and Gas Storage, said: "This is a significant step forward in the provision of information about CO2 storage prospects around the UK. The unique partnership with the British Geological Survey provides long-term stewardship of this nationally significant dataset, and we will be working to ensure industry, academia, government and other interested users can access the data as easily as possible. The Crown Estate is investing to fully understand the storage resources because we own the rights to CO2 storage beneath the UK continental shelf. We will make use of the database to help facilitate delivery of cost reduction activities for CO2 transportation and storage through supporting and informing spatial planning and competitive leasing scenarios."
Prof Mike Stephenson, Director of Science and Technology, British Geological Survey, said: "Carbon capture and storage is an important technology to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and a pillar of the UK's energy policy. Storage of CO2 in the rocks under the North Sea could be big business in the future and CO2 Stored, a new database hosted by the British Geological Survey and The Crown Estate and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute, gives access to information about nearly 600 underground storage locations in either depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers around the UK. CO2 Stored is an important milestone in the development of CCS nationally and internationally and will help kick-start this new industry."
Andrew Green, CCS Programme Manager at the ETI, said: "Our modelling has shown that there is huge potential and a strong argument for CCS to be a core component of the UK's future energy mix. Whilst a lot of focus is on the build and demonstration of CCS plant, the availability of sufficient high-quality storage capacity is crucial to the large-scale rollout of CCS in the UK. CO2 Stored, which builds on the ETI's UK CO2 Storage Appraisal project, contains a comprehensive picture of how much CO2 storage space is practically available around the UK coastline."
The Crown Estate and the British Geological Survey have launched a new website, CO2 Stored, giving access to world-leading information on carbon dioxide (CO2) storage data around the UK continental shelf.
The UK is estimated to have one of the largest CO2 storage capacities in Europe and this new website will enable stakeholders to understand the role Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can play in supporting a diverse, affordable and secure energy supply in the UK.
CO2 Stored
The data contained within CO2 Stored details comprehensive information on offshore CO2 geological storage sites around the UK, the first country to have this information, so helping industry and government make more informed decisions. It identifies a UK storage potential of 78 billion tonnes of CO2 in offshore geological storage sites - in effect a national asset. CO2 Stored provides access to data covering:
• nearly 600 units of storage in either depleted oil, gas fields or saline aquifers around the UK
• 25 categories such as pore volume, capacity and injectivity
• geological seal, faults and connectivity characteristics
• economics analyses and modelling.
Available to users under licence, the facility will mean anyone interested in the characteristics of this potentially vital UK resource will now have the information at their fingertips.
The launch is the first major milestone of a £1 million, five year partnership programme between The Crown Estate and the British Geological Survey. The next stage of development, due later in 2013, will introduce an updated interactive map.
The database builds on the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) £4 million UK CO2 Storage Appraisal project (UKSAP) which was commissioned and funded by the ETI. UKSAP, led by Senergy Alternative Energy, involved a collaboration of the UK's leading industrial and academic experts in CO2 geological storage. Standard methodologies were used throughout to create the database and ensure that data is consistent, auditable and defensible.
Dr Ward Goldthorpe, Programme Manager Carbon Capture Storage and Gas Storage, said: "This is a significant step forward in the provision of information about CO2 storage prospects around the UK. The unique partnership with the British Geological Survey provides long-term stewardship of this nationally significant dataset, and we will be working to ensure industry, academia, government and other interested users can access the data as easily as possible. The Crown Estate is investing to fully understand the storage resources because we own the rights to CO2 storage beneath the UK continental shelf. We will make use of the database to help facilitate delivery of cost reduction activities for CO2 transportation and storage through supporting and informing spatial planning and competitive leasing scenarios."
Prof Mike Stephenson, Director of Science and Technology, British Geological Survey, said: "Carbon capture and storage is an important technology to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and a pillar of the UK's energy policy. Storage of CO2 in the rocks under the North Sea could be big business in the future and CO2 Stored, a new database hosted by the British Geological Survey and The Crown Estate and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute, gives access to information about nearly 600 underground storage locations in either depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers around the UK. CO2 Stored is an important milestone in the development of CCS nationally and internationally and will help kick-start this new industry."
Andrew Green, CCS Programme Manager at the ETI, said: "Our modelling has shown that there is huge potential and a strong argument for CCS to be a core component of the UK's future energy mix. Whilst a lot of focus is on the build and demonstration of CCS plant, the availability of sufficient high-quality storage capacity is crucial to the large-scale rollout of CCS in the UK. CO2 Stored, which builds on the ETI's UK CO2 Storage Appraisal project, contains a comprehensive picture of how much CO2 storage space is practically available around the UK coastline."