Estimates of CO2 storage capacity
in Europe
Karen Lyng Anthonsen, Thomas Vangkilde-Pedersen & Lars Henrik Nielsen
Geological survey of Denmark and Greenland
Framework of presentation
• Overview of European CO2 storage capacity projects
• CO2 storage capacity estimates for Denmark
• How to estimate CO2 storage capacity – illustrated for aquifers
• Results of latest total European CO2 storage capacity
estimates
• Conclusions
CO2 storage capacity projects
• Joule II finalised 1993
The joule II project: The underground disposal of carbon dioxide
All Europe
• GESTCO finalised 2003
Geological Storage of CO2 from Combustion of Fossil Fuel
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, UK
• Castor (WP 1.2) finalised 2006
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia
• GeoCapacity finalised 2008
Assessing European Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, UK
CO2 storage capacity projects
CO2 storage options
• Oil- and gas reservoirs
Limited storage capacity, but well-known geology and proven
capability to retain hydrocarbons
Possibility to use CO2 for enhanced oil/gas recovery
(EOR/EGR)
• Aquifers (saline)
Large storage volumes, but relatively unknown geology and
therefore uncertainties about reservoir integrity and properties
• Coal fields
Very limited storage capacity and injection rates, but possible
to use CO2 for production of methane
Aquifers in Denmark
Cross-section
Modified from Vejbæk 1990, 1997
Criteria for selection of CO2 storage structures
• Sealed (cap rock)
• Non faulted, both structure and seal
• Top of reservoir situated below 800 m to ensure storage of
super critical CO2
• Reservoir situated less than 2500 m, to ensure enough
preserved porosity and permeability
• Significant size, storage capacity approximately min. 100 Mt
• Be within reasonable distance from a CO2 source
Deep saline aquifers
MCO2e = A × h × φ × ρCO2r × Seff
• MCO2e : effective storage capacity
• A: area of trap or regional aquifer
• h: average height of aquifer × average net to gross ratio
• φ: average reservoir porosity
• ρCO2r : CO2 density at reservoir conditions
• Seff : sweep efficiency (estimated)
Typical Seff ranges for structures: 5 – 40 %
Suggested Seff for regional aquifers: 2 %
Level of potential storage estimations
Top:
Practical capacity with economic and regulatory
barriers applied to effective capacity and with
matching of sources and sinks: Site specific
efficiency factor from reservoir simulations
Middle:
Effective capacity with
technical/geological cut off limits
applied to theoretical capacity:
detailed estimates with evaluated
efficiency factor
Bottom:
Theoretical capacity including
large uneconomic/unrealistic
volumes: estimates
without efficiency factor
Geological structures
GeoCapacity estimate of storage capacity in DK
Sedimentary basins of Europe
CO2 emission sources
Hydrocarbon fields
Coal fields
Aquifers
no data
CO2 emission sources and storage sites
CO2 Storage capacity – results of GeoCapacity project
Storage capacity (Gt CO2)
Emissions from Aquifers Hydrocarbon fields Coal measures
big stationary
sources (Gt CO2) Conservative Conservative Conservative
Effective capacity Effective capacity Effective capacity
estimate estimate estimate
2 350 100 30 25 1,5 1,0
Conclusions
• CCS has a large potential in Europe, but site
specific investigations are needed
• GeoCapacity project include country specific CO2
storage information from 25 countries
• The GeoCapacity project provides the latest
estimate of total European storage capacity:
126 Gt as a conservative estimate
EU GeoCapacity
Assessing European Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide
www.geocapacity.eu