Reserves and resources for CO2 storage in Europe: the CO2 StoP project

Th
e challenge of climate change demands reduction in global
CO
2
emissions. In order to fi
ght global warming many coun-
tries are looking at technological solutions to keep the release
of CO
2
into the atmosphere under control. One of the most
promising techniques is carbon dioxide capture and storage
(CCS), also known as CO
2
geological storage. CCS can re-
duce the world’s total CO
2
release by about one quarter by
2050 (IEA 2008, 2013; Metz
et al.
2005). CCS usually in-
volves a series of steps: (1) separation of the CO
2
from the
gases produced by large power plants or other point sources,
(2) compression of the CO
2
into supercritical fl
uid, (3) trans-
portation to a storage location and (4) injecting it into deep
underground geological formations.
CO
2
StoP is an acronym for the
CO
2
Storage Potential in
Europe
project. Th
e CO
2
StoP project which started in Janu-
ary 2012 and ended in October 2014 included data from 27
countries (Fig. 1). Th
e data necessary to assess potential loca-
tions of CO
2
storage resources are found in a database set up
in the project.
A data analysis system was developed to analyse the com-
plex data in the database, as well as a geographical informa-
tion system (GIS) that can display the location of potential
geological storage formations, individual units of assessment
within the formations and any further subdivisions (daugh-
ter units, such as hydrocarbon reservoirs or potential struc-
tural traps in saline aquifers). Finally, formulae have been
developed to calculate the storage resources. Th
e database is
housed at the Joint Research Centre, the European Commis-
sion in Petten, the Netherlands.
Background and methods
CO
2
storage resource assessment
A resource can be defi ned as anything potentially available
and useful to man. Th
e pore space in deeply buried reservoir
rocks that can trap CO
2
is a resource that can be used for
CO
2
storage. It is of utmost importance to be aware that the
mere presence of a resource does not indicate that any part of
it can be economically exploited, now or in the future