Cracks found close to Norwegian CCS operation

An EU-funded project called ECO₂ has investigated the influence of CO₂ seeping from the Norweigan CCS project by the Sleipner gas field in the North Sea. They have studied the seabed above the area where the CO₂ has been injected, and have also gathered high-resolution seismic data of the geological layers above the storage area. What they found was one big crack 25 kilometres north of the storage area, and numerous vertical, smaller so-called pipes and chimneys in the rocks covering the CO₂ storage site. Some of them went all the way down to the sandstone formation that contains the CO₂. The researchers state that there is no evidence of any seepage from the CO₂ injected through these cracks.¹

Professor Peter M Haugan from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen, Norway, says that this may be just a coincidence. No such research was conducted prior to the start of injection. The biggest crack (up to 10 metres wide and 3 kilometres long) could well have been situated right above the injection site. His conclusion is that this proves the need for very expensive exploration of sites intended for storage of CO₂.²

The Sleipner gas field is seen by many as an example of a successful CCS project. However, the Sleipner CCS operation is a very special case, as stated in a report from AirClim published in 2008³. The CO₂ is extracted from fossil gas from the Sleipner gas field, which is cold and under very high pressure. Extracting CO₂ from hot exhaust gases at atmospheric pressure from a fossil-fuelled power plant is a very different matter. This makes it difficult to use the Sleipner CCS, as well as the Snøhvit CCS in Northern Norway, as arguments in favour of CCS in general.

The Sleipner CCS started operating in 1996. Since then, about one million tonnes of CO₂ per year have been separated from the natural gas extracted from the gas field. In total nearly 48 million cubic metres of CO₂ have been injected into the sandstone since 1996.

Tore Braend

¹ECO₂ Brochure (July 2014)

²Professor Peter M Haugan, Personal communication, 11 September 2014

³Last gasp of the coal industry (October 2008)

In this issue

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Editorial: Protect people and nature from air pollution

Since their peak around thirty years ago, emissions of air pollutants in Europe have come down significantly. Tougher emission standards for industry and road vehicles have resulted in less polluting power plants and cars.

Continued succes for renewables

Denmark got 41 per cent of its power from the wind in the first six months of 2014. Renewables are advancing all over Europe.

Saving Turkey from coal

Turkey should stop the construction of new coal- and lignite-fired power stations and start phasing out the existing ones, says Greenpeace Mediterranean.

A fair share of climate responsibility

Annex 1 countries need to have negative emissions of 441 GtCO₂ by 2050, according to a new equity proposal from several Latin American countries.

Lignite power provides bargain-priced pollution

Combustion of lignite is one of the environmentally worst ways to generate energy. Even so, there is a continued increase in many parts of Europe.

Proposal for coal phase-out in Germany

BUND, a German environmental organisation, suggests a legally binding law to close all coal power stations by 2030.

Emissions are falling – but not enough

While emissions of acidifying sulphur pollutants in the EU have come down by 84 per cent since 1990, those of nitrogen compounds have fallen only by 41 per cent.

UK brought to court on bad air quality

New figures from the UK government show air quality in some of the country’s biggest cities will not meet European Union pollution limits until after 2030, twenty years after the original deadline.

Sustainable food choices

Excluding meat from our diet is not enough on its own to benefit the climate. Eating a lot of cheese or simply eating a lot of everything also leads to high greenhouse gas emissions.

New figures on global ship emissions

In 2012 worldwide shipping consumed some 300 million tonnes of fuel oil, resulting in emissions of 949 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Unless concerted action is taken, these emissions are expected to grow by up to five times by 2050.

US to cut CO2 from existing power plants

By 2030, the CPP proposal should reduce CO₂ emissions from the power sector by 30 per cent nationwide, compared to 2005 levels, and provide up to US$93 billion in climate and public health benefits

Carbon dioxide concentration surges

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years, according to the latest data from the WMO.

EU’s Dirty thirty

The thirty most CO₂-polluting power plants in Europe also cause 20 per cent of the health costs of the sector.

Main menu

Cracks found close to Norwegian CCS operation

In this issue

Air pollution still harms ecosystems

Editorial: Protect people and nature from air pollution

Continued succes for renewables

Saving Turkey from coal

A fair share of climate responsibility

Lignite power provides bargain-priced pollution

Proposal for coal phase-out in Germany

Emissions are falling – but not enough

UK brought to court on bad air quality

Sustainable food choices

New figures on global ship emissions

US to cut CO2 from existing power plants

Carbon dioxide concentration surges

EU’s Dirty thirty

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

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