Dr Henrik Stahl, a scientist at the Scottish Marine Institute at Dunstaffnage, is inviting local people to an information evening about an upcoming research project that will take place in Ardmucknish Bay in the spring of 2012, investigating possible issues relating to carbon dioxide storage in sub-seabed reservoirs. The meeting is scheduled for Monday 19 December at 20:00 in the Victory Hall, Benderloch and is open to all. It was originally scheduled for Thursday 8th December when heavy storms made it unsafe to hold the event.
The experiment will investigate potential environmental impacts from Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), a process aiming to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The process captures carbon dioxide at fossil fuel power stations and stores it at depth beneath the ground, often deep under the seabed (e.g. in depleted oil or gas reservoirs). This locks the carbon dioxide away from the atmosphere, where it may otherwise contribute to climate change.
“Governments and energy companies around the world are now looking into CCS as a way of mitigating our ever increasing emissions of carbon dioxide. The technology to do this is more or less in place, with the expectation that CCS will be safe. It is, however, critical to understand the impacts from potential carbon dioxide leaks and how best to monitor CCS sites. As little is known about what will happen to marine life around a potential leak of carbon dioxide from a CCS reservoir, our project will investigate the nature and environmental impacts of carbon dioxide leaks that could develop at CCS storage sites”, explains Dr Stahl.
“We plan to mimic, on a very small scale and under controlled conditions, a carbon dioxide leak event and monitor how the ecosystem is impacted and how quickly it recovers after the leak has stopped. We will also use the experiment to test various methods of monitoring and discovering potential carbon dioxide leaks from a CCS reservoir.”
“Our work will provide important information on operational and risk assessment procedures for any future CCS installation.”
“We have made every effort to ensure that the impacts from our research on conservation, recreational and fisheries activities in the area will be minimal.”
“We are using Ardmucknish Bay - the bay between North Connel and Benderloch - because it has ideal geophysical characteristics for the proposed experiment and is close to SAMS and the National Facility for Scientific Diving. ”
SAMS Director, Professor Laurence Mee, said: “Together with visiting experts from as far as Japan Henrik’s team of scientists will be addressing some really big issues with this research and are exploring possible solutions to the climate change challenge. Conducting this work in Argyll once again demonstrates that this part of the world makes important contributions to research that matters.”
Ends
About the project
About the Scottish Marine Institute