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Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

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The potential <strong>for</strong> geological storage of CO 2 inDenmark is very promisingKaren L. Anthonsen, Peter Frykman & Lars H. NielsenGeological Survey of Denmark <strong>and</strong> Greenl<strong>and</strong>, GEUS, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350Copenhagen KAbstractGeological storage of CO 2 by subsurface injection into porous rocks in deep salineaquifers is one of <strong>the</strong> options to reduce CO 2 emissions. Several projects concerningestimation of geological storage of CO 2 in Europe has revealed a considerable storagepotential, latest <strong>the</strong> EU GeoCapacity project estimated a total storage capacity of ~360Gt<strong>for</strong> Europe. Compared to <strong>the</strong> estimate of 2Gt <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> annual CO 2 emission from largestationary CO 2 sources, sufficient capacity seems to be available. The combination ofcertain point sources with storage facilities might even obtain negative emission budget,when power plants with significant biomass fuelling are incorporated.Analyses demonstrate that geological storage of CO 2 is a realistic option in <strong>the</strong> majorityof <strong>the</strong> European countries, with <strong>the</strong> largest storage potential concentrated in <strong>the</strong> NorthSea region. Widespread geological <strong>for</strong>mations <strong>and</strong> structures with CO 2 storage potentialare found in Norway, United Kingdom <strong>and</strong> Denmark. In Denmark <strong>the</strong> subsurface isrelatively well known from a large number of exploration wells <strong>and</strong> various seismicsurveys, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> existence of both reservoir layers <strong>and</strong> sealing units with large arealextension is verified. In addition <strong>the</strong> occurrence of geological structures with closuremakes it very likely that several suitable CO 2 storage sites can be identified, both on- <strong>and</strong>offshore. The Skagerrak area seems promising as several structures with reservoir rocksare documented with overlying sealing cap rock sections. The Kattegat area may alsohave potential structures due to block faulting. The combination of burial depth <strong>and</strong>reservoir properties makes <strong>the</strong> Triassic – Jurassic Gassum Formation <strong>the</strong> most attractivestorage layer option. The thickness of <strong>the</strong> Lower Triassic Bunter S<strong>and</strong>stone/SkagerrakFormations provides huge storage volumes although probably with low injectivity.Locally <strong>the</strong> lower Triassic <strong>for</strong>mations may <strong>for</strong>m excellent reservoirs, <strong>for</strong> example in <strong>the</strong>Copenhagen-Malmö area.1 CO 2 Storage in a European perspectiveSeveral EU co-funded projects have been dealing with mapping <strong>and</strong> estimations of <strong>the</strong>geological storage potential <strong>for</strong> Europe. The first project estimating <strong>the</strong> European CO 2storage potential was <strong>the</strong> Joule II project in 1996 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> total storage capacity wasestimated to approximately 800Gt (Holloway et al. 1996). In 2003 <strong>the</strong> GESTCO projectcame up with more detailed calculations of storage capacities <strong>for</strong> 8 North West Europeancountries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s, Norway, UK)(Christensen & Holloway 2004). The Castor project included storage estimations <strong>for</strong> 8east <strong>and</strong> central European countries in 2006 (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Hungary,Pol<strong>and</strong>, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia). Finally <strong>the</strong> EU GeoCapacity project coveredstorage capacity estimations <strong>for</strong> 21 countries in Europe <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> result was a total storagecapacity of 357 giga-ton (Gt) CO 2 (Vangkilde-Pedersen et al. 2009). If <strong>the</strong> total storagecapacity is compared with <strong>the</strong> total European CO 2 emission from large stationary sources(>1Mt CO 2 /year) of 2Gt CO 2 , Europe has geological storage capacity <strong>for</strong> ~180 years.The GeoCapacity project is <strong>the</strong> most extensive research project to date, including CO 2storage capacity estimates <strong>for</strong> saline aquifers, hydrocarbon fields <strong>and</strong> coal fields (figure1).1Risø International <strong>Energy</strong> Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 48

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