CO2 storage Environmental Baseline

A main concern and hazard associated with offshore CO2 storage is leakage through the overburden sediments reaching the seabed and into the water column. We hypothesize that an early indicator of CO2 leakage from a CCS reservoir will be increased methane in the surface sediments, with thermogenic/long chain molecular signatures. In the SEABAS research study, we have tested the possibilities for proxy-based identification and development of toolboxes for identifying both methane and CO2 seepages in the abandoned reservoirs and at possible CO2 storage sites in the Danish North Sea. We propose that such a comprehensive seabed baseline analyses based on multiple tools is carried out prior to storage.