Natural Analogues of CO2 Geological Storage

Geological storage of carbon dioxide is nowadays, internationally considered as the most effective method for greenhouse gas emission mitigation, in order to minimize the global climate change universally accepted. Nevertheless, the possible risks derived of this long-term storage have a direct influence on its public acceptance. Among the favourable geological formations to store CO2, depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline reservoirs, and unamiable coal seams are highlighted. One of the most important objectives of the R and D projects related to the CO2 geological storage is the evaluation of the CO2 leakage rate through the above mentioned geological formations. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to increase our knowledge on the interaction among CO2, storage and sealing formations, as well as on the flow paths and the physical resistance of the sealing formation. The quantification of the CO2 leakage rate is essential to evaluate the effects on the human and animal health, as well as for the ecosystem and water quality. To achieve these objectives, the study of the natural analogues is very useful in order to know the natural leakage rate to the atmosphere, its flow paths, the physical, chemical and mineralogical modifications due to the long term interaction processes among the CO2 and the storage and sealing formations, as well as the effects on the groundwaters and ecosystems. In this report, we have tried to summarise the main characteristics of the natural reservoirs and surficial sources of CO2, which are both natural analogues of the geological storage and CO2 leakage, studied in EEUU, Europe and Australia. The main objective of this summary is to find the possible applications for long-term risk prediction and for the performance assessment by means of conceptual and numerical modelling, which will allow to validate the predictive models of the CO2 storage behaviour, to design and develop suitable monitoring techniques to control the CO2 behaviour after injection and to detect the probable leakages to the atmosphere. Likewise, the safety guarantees of the geological storage of the green-house emissions, taking into account the natural analogues, must be made easily accessible to the public to raise public participation and awareness. Finally, the study of several Spanish natural analogues of the CO2 leakage is proposed. (Author) 64 refs