Carbon storage heads underwater
Posted: 29 April 2008
Sleipner in the North Sea holds 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in underground storage
Every day 2,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from natural gas produced on the Sleipner West field in the North Sea.
The carbon dioxide is injected and stored in the Utsira formation rather than being emitted into the atmosphere. This sandstone formation extends over a large area in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The facility has been online since the autumn of 1996, recording a very high regularity.
Carbon storage under the seabed may be an important tool in the efforts to slow global warming.
Research and monitoring of the carbon injection into the Utsira formation show that the greenhouse gas is retained in the formation and that this is an environmentally friendly and safe way of reducing climate gas emissions.
"This is a good carbon capture demonstration project. Sleipner documents that carbon storage is feasible and safe," said Rolf Håkon Holmboe, head of HSE on the Sleipner field.
"We wish to build on the experience we have gained through 12 years of operations employing carbon capture and storage techniques," said Sjur Talstad, vice president, Sleipner production.
The Sleipner organisation is exploring the possibilities of offering other petroleum discoveries in the area the opportunity to process gas, remove CO2 from the gas and store it in the Usira formation.
The possibility of receiving carbon dioxide from land for injection into the Utsira formation is also being considered.
The EU aims to cut Europe's carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Carbon storage may be one of several necessary actions.
A decision by the EU Parliament as to whether, and on what conditions, such storage may be permitted is scheduled for 2008.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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