Meeting regulatory requirements – in uncertain geology, how do you conduct a site characterisation?

At the Site Characterisation session of GHGT-13, Nick Hoffman demonstrated how the CarbonNet project managed to design their plume mapping approach to successfully meet regulatory requirements. A prediction of plume paths with more than a 10% probability of occurrence are required by Australian GHG storage regulations. The probabilistic modelling approach adopted by the CarbonNet Project allowed for plume paths at a P90 confidence level to be calculated. When "the only certainty about the subsurface is that it will be uncertain" this 3D mapping approach allowed MMV plans to be designed around the likelihood of a plume being in a certain location by a given time. The full report detailing the plume mapping methodology is available via the GCCSI institute's website.