Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Carbon (dioxide) Capture and Storage (CCS) is used as a mitigation strategy for addressing the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We are working to deliver new approaches, methodologies and tools for the safe and efficient operation of offshore storage sites.

CCS has been identified as a climate change mitigation strategy which can significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere from fossil fuel based power generation and other industrial sources. In the UK and many other countries the best storage reservoirs occur in offshore geological formations several 100s of metres below the sea floor. Assurance that the CO2 remains permanently stored is important from both a climate change and local environmental perspective.

We are conducting research underpinning the environmentally safe and sustainable implementation of CCS by developing strategies and systems for effective monitoring and environmental impact assessment, which will increase confidence in CCS as a viable option for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, benefiting a broad range of stakeholders from regulatory bodies, to industry and the wider CCS community.

Our approach combines observations, field experiments, laboratory work and mathematical modelling to gain a better understanding of the behaviour of CO2 in marine systems and how best to detect anomalous events.

Making a difference

Our CCS work has made an international impact on policy, by informing the London Convention on disposal at sea. We work closely with industry and policy makers, to quantify and lower operational risk as well as by proposing cost effective monitoring strategies. With the potential expansion of CCS in forthcoming years, this work has great potential for future application.

Further information

For further information about modelling, monitoring or detection contact Jerry Blackford (jcb@pml.ac.uk) and for information about the ecological impacts of CCS contact Steve Widdicombe (swi@pml.ac.uk).

Current research topics include:

Air-sea gas exchange Aquaculture Biodiversity Capacity development Carbon and nutrient cycles Earth Observation Food security Invasive species Marine plastics Marine spatial planning Modelling the Marine Environment New technologies Ocean acidification Renewable energy Valuing the marine environment

Projects

PreACT

Pressure control and conformance management for safe and efficient CO2 storage - accelerating CCS technologies

Contact: Jerry Blackford

Pre-ACT is a €5.2M project led by the Norwegian research institute Sintef. The objective of Pre-ACT is to equip operators and regulators of...

STEMM-CCS
Completed

Strategies for Environmental Monitoring of Marine Carbon Capture and Storage (STEMM-CCS)

Contact: Jerry Blackford

STEMM-CCS is an ambitious multi-disciplinary project that will deliver new approaches, methodologies and tools for the safe operation of offshore...

Measurement, Monitoring and Verification of CO2 storage
Completed

Measurement, Monitoring and Verification of CO2 storage

Contact: Jerry Blackford

This project was a collaboration between several institutes which worked to develop a marine monitoring system for underwater CCS sites.Although...

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Other recent news articles

News

PML supports Carbon Capture & Storage recommendations

A major investigation from the Environmental Audit Committee, EAC is urging the government to produce a new strategy on Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS following the cancellation of a pioneering £1bn CCS competition last year, six months before it was due to be awarded.

News

Carbon dioxide capture & storage and the marine environment

Following a novel series of experiments carried out beneath the waters of a Scottish sea loch, a team of scientists led by PML have concluded that small-scale leaks from sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage are likely to have little effect on local marine life. 

News

Detecting sea floor carbon dioxide anomalies

​PML scientists are highlighting a new way of detecting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) anomalies on the sea floor, and how this can help to monitor Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS).

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Selected key publications

Blackford, JC; Artioli, Y; Clark, J; de Mora, L. 2017. Monitoring of offshore geological carbon storage integrity: implications of natural variability in the marine system and the assessment of anomaly detection criteria International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 64, 99-112 doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.06.020

Blackford, J; Bull, JM; Cevatoglu, M; Connelly, D; Hauton, C; James, RH; Lichtschlag, A; Stahl, H; Widdicombe, S; Wright, IC. 2015. Marine baseline and monitoring strategies for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS). International Journal Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 221-229. doi: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.10.004

Blackford, JC; Stahl, H; Bull, JM; Bergès, BJP; Cevatoglu, M; Lichtschlag, A; Connelly, DP; James, RH; Kita, J; Long, D; Naylor, M; Shitashima, K; Smith, D; Taylor, P; Wright, I; Akhurst, M; Chen, B; Gernon, TM; Hauton, C; Hayashi, M; Kaieda, H; Leighton, TG; Sato, T; Sayer, MDJ; Suzumura, M; Tait, K; Vardy, ME; White, PR; Widdicombe, S. 2014. Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage. Nature Climate Change 4, 1011-1016. doi: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2381

Jones, DG; Beaubien, SE; Blackford, JC; Foekema, EM; Lions, J; De Vittor, C; West, JM; Widdicombe, S; Hauton, C; Queirós, AM.2015. Developments since 2005 in understanding potential environmental impacts of CO2 leakage from geological storage. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 40, 350-377. doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.05.032

Lessin, G; Artioli, Y; Queirós, AM; Widdicombe, S; Jerry C. Blackford, JC. 2016. Modelling impacts and recovery in benthic communities exposed to localised high CO2, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 109(1), 267-280. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.05.071.

Tait, K; Stahl, H; Taylor, P; Widdicombe, S. 2015. Rapid response of the active microbial community to CO2 exposure from a controlled sub-seabed CO2 leak in Ardmucknish Bay (Oban, Scotland). International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 171-181. doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.11.021

Widdicombe, S; McNeill, CL; Stahl, H; Taylor, P; Queirós, AM; Nunes, J; Tait, K. 2015. Impact of sub-seabed CO2 leakage on macrobenthic community structure and diversity. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 182-192. doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.01.003

Related recent publications

  1. Small, DP; Calosi, P; Rastrick, SPS; Turner, LM; Widdicombe, S; Spicer, JI. 2020 The effects of elevated temperature and PCO2 on the energetics and haemolymph pH homeostasis of juveniles of the European lobster, Homarus gammarus. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 223 (8). 223. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.209221 (In Press)
    View publication

  2. Blackford, JC; Alendal, G; Avlesen, H; Brereton, A; Cazenave, PW; Chen, B; Dewar, M; Holt, J; Phelps, J. 2020 Impact and detectability of hypothetical CCS offshore seep scenarios as an aid to storage assurance and risk assessment. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 95. 102949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102949
    View publication

  3. Murray, F; Widdicombe, S; McNeill, CL; Douglas, A. 2017 Assessing the consequences of environmental impacts: variation in species responses has unpredictable functional effects. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 583. 35-47. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12358
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  4. Rastelli, E; Corinaldesi, C; Dell’Anno, A; Amaro, T; Queiros, AM; Widdicombe, S; Danovaro, R. 2015 Impact of CO2 leakage from sub-seabed carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) reservoirs on benthic virus–prokaryote interactions and functions. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00935
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  5. Lessin, G; Artioli, Y; Queiros, AM; Widdicombe, S; Blackford, JC. 2016 Modelling impacts and recovery in benthic communities exposed to localised high CO2. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 109 (1). 267-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.05.071
    View publication

View our recent publications