EPFL hunts for carbon dioxide storage solutions

The idea of burying carbon dioxide underground first surfaced in the 1970s, and it took until 1996 for the world’s first large-scale storage project to become operational at the Sleipner gas field in the North Sea.

Despite the massive growth in awareness over the threat of global warming, by 2007 (the year of the latest IPPC report on climate change), only four major working sites existed around the world.

Since then however, the capture of CO2, before it can escape to make a further contribution to the greenhouse effect, is fast becoming big business as companies seek to avoid punitive taxes aimed at curbing emissions.

Nonetheless, the science is still hazy and critics have raised concerns over costs and geological considerations, such as the effect of tectonic activity.

With this in mind, Lausanne’s federal institute of technology (EPFL) has opted to create a new chair dedicated to the issue.

“There is a societal demand, as formalized in the Kyoto Protocol, to consider CO2 capture and storage as a leading option in reducing the large projected increases in annual CO2 emissions,” said Lyesse Laloui, professor in geo-engineering and director of the EPFL Soil Mechanics Laboratory, whose research focuses on the interaction between CO2 and the geological elements implicated in carbon capturing.

“Of the available technologies, there is highly likely to be a significant role for subsurface storage in geological formations,” he added.

Capturing CO2 from the offending plant is just the first phase. To store it underground, the gas must be compressed into a dense fluid and then injected by pipeline to a geologically suitable area at a depth of at least 800 metres

Stumping up 2.5 million francs in cash for the research facility is Petrosvibri, a locally based energy group already sniffing for a suspected Holy Grail of natural gas, which experts suspect may exist underneath Lake Geneva.

“It is a matter of urgency to find constructive solutions to the CO2 problem, and this research chair is an important means for Switzerland to contribute to the venture,” said Philippe Petitpierre, vice president of Petrosvibri.

Laloui calls the chair “one of the first in its field entirely devoted to the topic” and also a “great opportunity for Switzerland”, which has made “no significant effort into subsurface CO2 sequestration”.

EPFL is now seeking a professor to occupy the new chair, an appointee who will be faced with a challenging number of basic but difficult questions, says Laloui.

These include: How is CO2 stored underground? What happens to the CO2 when it is injected? What are the geological controls? How long can CO2 remain stored underground?  And, what are the possibilities of geological storage in the Alpine formation?

However, he also expects the facility to come up with some answers “after a period of 3 to 4 years”.