CO2 blowouts in the German history of salt mining

The NASCENT project was a three-year research project (2001 to 2004) studying natural accumulations of CO2 as analogues for geological storage of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. These accumulations occur in a variety of geological environments and many can be demonstrated to have stored CO2 for periods longer than those being considered for CO2 storage. The study of natural analogues is crucial to understanding the long-term impact of CO2 storage. Such long-term effects cannot be addressed by laboratory experiments. These include the longterm safety and stability of storage underground and the potential effects of leakage from an underground storage reservoir. Natural CO2 fields, and places where CO2 is actively migrating from underground to the Earth’s surfaces, are widespread in Europe and one of them is the potash field of Thuringia and Hesse in Germany.