5th Meeting of the Monitoring Network

Publication Overview

This was the 5th meeting of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) Monitoring Network. Since the inception of the Monitoring Network a significant amount of work has been done in this field. There are now a great number of very elaborate Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) demonstration projects occurring worldwide with each one developing and testing new monitoring techniques. While this is happening there is also a great drive from many Governments to put in place the regulations needed to properly licence and supervise CCS activities. This meeting hoped to review where we are with both aspects of CCS and identify what questions still need to be answered

Publication Summary

The main outcomes of the meeting were: 1 A review of various CCS demonstration projects around the world, with a focus on Japanese projects and plans. Some of the monitoring techniques reported on demonstrated new examples of how plume observations are matching predictions and also an example of the first imaging of CO₂ dissolving in the reservoir. These examples add to our knowledge and evidence base of successful monitoring. Together with assurance monitoring and continued public communication, these will help gain, improve and maintain public and regulator confidence in CCS. This is important for all projects at all scales. It was agreed that the continued sharing of knowledge and technology transfer between current projects, operators and countries is very useful and should be encouraged.