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The second day of the GHGT-14 Conference in Melbourne opened with an up-beat plenary session from three prominent figures directly engaged in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). All three are influential in CCUS technological advances their respective portfolios. Steve Winberg, Assistance Secretary for Fossil Fuel in the US Department o...

On Day 2 of the GTGT-14 Conference in Melbourne, the second panel discussion covered the important topic of unlocking CCUS Investment. The distinguished panel, chaired by Samantha McCulloch from the IEA, included representatives from the US Department of Energy, Shell, Total and the World Bank. Samantha set the scene by explaining how the IEA's cli...

A panel discussion took place on Tuesday at GHGT14 which aimed to provide an update of the CCS infrastructure in Norway and give an insight into how Norway's work can ignite future CCS projects in the EU. The panel included:Bjorn-Erik Haugan – Gassnova Bjorn-Erik opened the panel with an overview of the status of CCS in 2018 to highlight how N...

GHGT-14 kicked off this morning with one of the keynotes giving the delegates an overview of the recently published IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR1.5). The presentation was delivered by none other than the IPCC's Vice Chair, Dr Thelma Krug. Dr Krug first presented the statistics of the report, which was prepared by 91 authors an...

I attended this morning the presentation given by Jannicke Bjerkas, organised by GCCSI. She highlighted the last update on the Special Report on the global warming of 1.5°C (IPCC) and the "rush" we are at the moment to reach the global emissions goals. The time to think on the best sectors to cut down CO2 emissions is gone and we have to do everyth...

Several studies on the technical and economic feasibility of carbon capture technologies in the cement and iron and steel sectors have been published. However, most of those do not contain detailed information on the cost methodology and/or the data and assumptions underlying the analysis. Transparent communication of cost of CO2 capture systems in...

Tony Wu presented recently in the NETL CO2 capture review meeting in Pittsburgh (August, 2018) the activities in the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC). Between 2014 and 2020, the DOE and industrial sponsors will invest $187.5 million to cut down costs on CO2 capture through R&D activities.The main advantages of those testing facilities are:...

Bringing techniques and expertise from other disciplines to bear on a new area of application can be important to making step-change advancements in any area, and a recent example was provided at NETL "Mastering the Subsurface" Meeting in Pittsburgh (13-16 Aug 2018). A panel session (with presentations) was devoted to the results of a recent worksh...

Once again, I had the pleasure to attend the 2018 NETL CO2 Capture Technology Project Review Meeting, which took place in Pittsburgh from the 13th to the 17th August. This event was packed with the last advances made in the NETL funded projects. Please see the following information papers containing further information:​2018-IP29; 2018 NETL CO...

It can be wonderful when things coincide to a synergistic benefit. I witnessed two examples this week, one of a practical convenience, the other of game-changing significance.The two annual review meetings of the US DOE's R,D&D programs in CO2 capture and storage were running in parallel this year in Pittsburgh, enabling attendees to attend par...

Solar Radiation Management (SRM) in scientific circles can be a contentious topic. One general conclusion often made is that SRM is not a replacement for greenhouse gas mitigation.A new research paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature[1], has cast doubt on the benefit of SRM. The researchers studied the impact of sulphur aerosol releas...

BP's 67th Annual Statistical Review, which came out in June 2018, reports that in 2017 energy markets took a step backwards which is not good news. For the first time in three years, CO2 emissions rose again and global carbon emissions from energy consumption increased by 1.6%.Global primary energy consumption grew at 2.2% in 2017, the fastest...

One perceived advantage for the use O&G fields for first generation CO2 storage is the potential reduction in costs for CO2 transport and storage by re-using existing O&G facilities, especially offshore. This report aims to review the potential re-use of the related infrastructure and assess the suitability of certain infrastructure for re-...

Gosh how quickly a week can go by when you are deeply engaged in receiving a lot of information. Well that was how our Summer School felt to us. We were very pleased to have our 12th International CCS Summer School hosted by the Norwegian CCS Research Centre in Trondheim, with 58 students from 24 countries. Covering all aspects of CCS presented by ...

  A highlight of the recent combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting was the inclusion of a keynote address from Lynn Helms, who is the head of North Dakota's Industrial Commission.Lynn's contribution was exceptional because the state's Industrial Commission now has Primacy for all six classes of wellbore disposal and is the only...

As part of the latest IEAGHG combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting, hosts EERC organised a field trip to a brine extraction and pressure management test site (BEST) near Watford City, North Dakota.One of the challenges presented by CO2 injection into saline formations is an increase in reservoir pressure. Brine extraction can be us...

IEAGHG, together with hosts the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), has just held another combined Modelling and Risk Management Network meeting, in Grand Forks, North Dakota.EERC is part of the University of North Dakota, and is an active participant in CCS research, notably the lead organisation of the PCOR Regional Carbon Sequestrat...

On a recent visit to Norway, travelling by bus through Oslo on route to the airport, I was struck by the frequency of passing electric cars. From my vantage point on the coach, it seemed that every third or fourth car that passed us was a Tesla.This should not have surprised me since Norway's fleet of plug-in electric vehicles is the largest p...

I hear on a regular basis, advocates of renewable energy telling audiences that we can go 100% renewable. Whilst this is a nice concept, and would certainly help achieve the Paris Agreement targets, I am afraid reality must at times prevail, as recent events in the UK suggest.In the UK this week, according to Bloomberg, we have gone 9 days with no ...

CATO invited national and international stakeholders on the 6th June to convene, inform one another, and share knowledge on recent advances on CCS in The Netherlands. The event covered both policy relevant topics and project developments. While Europe is committed to implement CCS, a firm strategy including the business case is still needed. Nation...