IEAGHG Monitoring Selection Tool Updates 2024-2025

Overview

In 2005-6 the British Geological Survey (BGS) were commissioned by IEAGHG to design a web-enabled decision support tool (subsequently called the Monitoring Selection Tool or MST in this report) to help users to select appropriate techniques to monitor a CO2 storage site. The easy-to-use, peer-reviewed Monitoring Selection Tool, hosted by IEAGHG, is made up of several components:

• A knowledge base that lists the monitoring techniques and their attributes.
• An expert system that selects appropriate techniques, based on user inputs, pre-defined relationships between techniques and the attributes of each monitoring technique.
• A web-based output with links to a description of each selected technique, its limitations and applications. Case histories and references, including web links are provided.

The MST is generic, making recommendations based on the storage scenario information supplied by the user. The MST output selects tools as essential or optional and uses a ranking system which was developed by BGS with user feedback when the tool was built and reviewed during later updates. While site- and project-specific conditions may preclude some of the techniques recommended by the MST from subsequent application, we believe its generic nature is a positive way of encouraging consideration of a wide range of techniques, and of fostering dialogue both internally within a project team and between operators and regulators. The MST originally aimed to support users in decision making.

Since its launch in 2006, the MST has regularly undergone routine maintenance and numerous updates to technique descriptions, case studies, bibliographies, content management system along with additions of resources (benchmarking, cost information), and improvements to functionality, interfacing and webpage design. The last technical update before this project was undertaken in January 2019.

When commissioning this current round of updates, IEAGHG did so in collaboration with the BGS to determine what was necessary. The following objectives were set during that consultation:

• Maintenance to ensure the long-term stability of the MST, including migration to a new server to comply with BGS’ Cyber Essentials and certification
• Update of the knowledge base
• Perform a user consultation to inform recommendations for a more in-depth future update of the MST
• Draw conclusions and a set of recommendations for MST v4.