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Title: Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO 2 storage projects: Recent progress and remaining challenges

Abstract

It is well established that fluid injection has the potential to induce earthquakes-from microseismicity to magnitude 5+ events-by altering state-of-stress conditions in the subsurface. This paper reviews recent lessons learned regarding induced seismicity at carbon storage sites. While similar to other subsurface injection practices, CO 2 injection has distinctive features that should be included in a discussion of its seismic hazard. Induced events have been observed at CO 2 injection projects, though to date it has not been a major operational issue. Nevertheless, the hazard exists and experience with this issue will likely grow as new storage operations come online. This review paper focuses on specific technical difficulties that can limit the effectiveness of current risk assessment and risk management approaches, and highlights recent research aimed at overcoming them. These challenges form the heart of the induced seismicity problem, and novel solutions to them will advance our ability to responsibly deploy large-scale CO 2 storage.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
OSTI Identifier:
1312041
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1367978; OSTI ID: 1440931
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-686378
Journal ID: ISSN 1750-5836; S175058361630127X; PII: S175058361630127X
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control Journal Volume: 49 Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 1750-5836
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; carbon capture and storage; induced seismicity; risk assessment

Citation Formats

White, Joshua A., and Foxall, William. Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO 2 storage projects: Recent progress and remaining challenges. Netherlands: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.03.021.
White, Joshua A., & Foxall, William. Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO 2 storage projects: Recent progress and remaining challenges. Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.03.021
White, Joshua A., and Foxall, William. Wed . "Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO 2 storage projects: Recent progress and remaining challenges". Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.03.021.
@article{osti_1312041,
title = {Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO 2 storage projects: Recent progress and remaining challenges},
author = {White, Joshua A. and Foxall, William},
abstractNote = {It is well established that fluid injection has the potential to induce earthquakes-from microseismicity to magnitude 5+ events-by altering state-of-stress conditions in the subsurface. This paper reviews recent lessons learned regarding induced seismicity at carbon storage sites. While similar to other subsurface injection practices, CO 2 injection has distinctive features that should be included in a discussion of its seismic hazard. Induced events have been observed at CO 2 injection projects, though to date it has not been a major operational issue. Nevertheless, the hazard exists and experience with this issue will likely grow as new storage operations come online. This review paper focuses on specific technical difficulties that can limit the effectiveness of current risk assessment and risk management approaches, and highlights recent research aimed at overcoming them. These challenges form the heart of the induced seismicity problem, and novel solutions to them will advance our ability to responsibly deploy large-scale CO 2 storage.},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.03.021},
journal = {International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control},
number = C,
volume = 49,
place = {Netherlands},
year = {Wed Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.03.021

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 68 works
Citation information provided by
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