THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences)

Postgraduate Course: Carbon Storage and Monitoring (PGGE11139)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course will cover all aspects of the geological storage of CO2 in sufficient depth so that the student can liaise with, understand and coordinate the work of specialists who will be involved in CCS projects, e.g. reservoir engineers, sedimentologists, geochemical modellers, regulators. Topics: CO2 Trapping mechanisms and transport; physical properties; storage in: saline aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon fields & unmineable coal beds; EOR; CO2 injection and modelling; geochemistry of CO2-rock interaction; monitoring and risk; tracers of CO2 migration and leakage (natural and artificial); regulation of storage sites (UK and Europe); exercise in assessment of storage potential of assigned area.
Course description Course description (dates are provisional and are subject to the availability of external speakers):

Week 1 (09.30 start) L1: Prof Stuart Haszeldine: Outline climate change evidence - rationale for storing CO2 and how much - natural CO2 storage and examples - engineered CO2 storage and examples.
L2: Introduction to CO2 capture, Ondrej Masek (11 AM)
Introduction to the course and the assessment. Online test of general energy /CCS knowledge (formative)Introduction to Week 5 student presentations

Week 2: L1) Introduction to CO2 storage types
Practical 1; Storage volume of various storage methods
L2: Physical parameters and storage mechanisms

Week 3: L1: Saline Aquifers: Site assessment, capacity estimates, case studie
Practical 2 Saline aquifer storage assessment.
On-line class test and discussion of Practical 1. Please bring a laptop.
L2: More saline aquifers; Depleted oil / gas fields, unmineable Coal Seams, ECBM, underground coal gasification

Week 4: L1) Water CO2 rock interaction
On-line class test and Practical 3 - Water - CO2 - rock interaction with Phreeqc please bring a laptop.

Week 5: Student lectures on CCS pilots in World

Flexible Learning Week

Week 6: L1) Katriona Edlmann (UoE): Experimental assessment of CO2 in rocks, with a brief visit to the KB CO2 experimental laboratory.
L2) Niklas Heinemann (UoE and CGG): Site selection for CCS

Week 7: L1) CCS current issues
L2) Monitoring and Verification

Week 8: Stuart Gilfillan (UoE): Gas Tracers in CCS
Practical: isotope tracers in Weyburn, Canada. Please bring a laptop.

Week 9: L1 Leakage Remediation
Discussion of Practical 4
L2: 11:00 CCS Policy, Dr Tim Dixon, IEAGHG guest lecturer - note: Tim is part of the UK's team in the CoP climate negotiations!

Week 10: Risk and risk management
Practical: Risk. Please bring a laptop.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Previous geological training to satisfaction of course organiser
Additional Costs None.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesPrevious geological training to satisfaction of course organiser
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  40
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 196 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) The course assessment (100 %) is a report written about the CO2 storage potential of the Inner Moray Firth, an area of the North Sea that is close to the Scottish mainland.

The course assessment is due week 11.
Feedback There are a number of online tests spread throughout the course that provide formative feedback on the understanding of key concepts. The course delivery is informal, allowing for questions and class discussions during lectures. The practical exercises are set for one week and discussed in the following session. Worked answers are supplied for all practicals, allowing self-assessment of progress.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Assess storage capacity of subsurface formations and structures
  2. Understand trapping and migration mechanisms
  3. Critically assess a proposal for a CO2 storage scheme
  4. Be able to design appropriate monitoring strategies
  5. Assess a geographical area for storage potential
Reading List
***Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Smit et al, The Berkley Lectures on Energy Vol 1., Imperial College Press, the best textbook on CCS. Consider purchasing.

*Returning Carbon to Nature: Coal, Carbon Capture, and Storage by Micheal Stephenson. An OK introduction but too basic for this course; available online through the University library.

SCCS (Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage) 2013, Recommendations and Conference 2013 Report, Unlocking North Sea CO2 Storage for Europe: Practical actions for the next five years. http://www.sccs.org.uk/expertise/unlocking

SCCS (Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage) 2011, Progressing Scotland's CO2 storage opportunities. http://carbcap.geos.ed.ac.uk/website/publications/progressingscotlandco2/ProgressingScotlandCO2Opps.pdf

CO2 Aquifer Storage Site Evaluation and Monitoring (CASSEM): Understanding the challenges of CO2 storage: results of the CASSEM Project http://www.sccs.org.uk/features/cassem/

Chadwick et al., 2008, Best practice for the storage of CO2 in saline aquifers, BGS occasional publication 14. www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=1520

Cooper, C., 2009, A Technical Basis for Carbon Dioxide Storage: CO2 Capture Project. http://www.co2captureproject.org/viewresult.php?downid=123

And if you've the entire Xmas vacation to spare:

IPCC (2005) Special Report Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srccs/srccs_summaryforpolicymakers.pdf
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srccs/srccs_technicalsummary.pdf
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsCarbon storage,monitoring,tracers
Contacts
Course organiserDr Mark Wilkinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 5943
Email: Mark.Wilkinson@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Sarah Jones
Tel:
Email: sarah.jones@ed.ac.uk
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