February 2012
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Chiara Trabucchi on CCS Financial Assurance...
Chiara Trabucchi (RECS Faculty), a Principal at Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc), is a nationally recognized expert in financial responsibility and liability risk management models and is a leader in the design of financial assurance frameworks and indemnity models for CCS projects. IEc recently published a study prepared by Chiara and others entitled, Valuation of Human Health and...
January 2012
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Natalia Zakharova in Popular Mechanics
Natalia Zakharova (RECS 2010) was featured in the Popular Mechanics’ article, Could the Northeast Store Its CO2 Right Beneath Its Feet?, for her work with Columbia University’s Borehole Research Group on an EPA-funded project. Her research, led by Dr. David Goldberg, assesses how potential leakage of dissolved CO2 from deep storage reservoirs might alter rock chemistry and microbial...
2011 Accomplishments: RECS Alumni & Faculty
It was another productive year for many in the RECS community and the following highlights some of the many accomplishments. (Please contact me to add your updates!).
Brendan Beck (2008) – Accepted a position as Manager of the new South African Center for CCS.
Jeff Bielicki, PhD (2005) – Became a Visiting Research Scientist and Graduate Faculty Member at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey...
December 2011
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RECS Highlighted at Columbia Climate Center
The Columbia Climate Center convened a workshop, “Carbon Management Education and Practice” at Columbia University on November 3-4, 2011. Pamela Tomski, RECS Founder and Director joined over 30 participants from academia, NGOs, the private sector and government to discuss the emergence and contours of carbon management as a new educational and professional field. She provided a briefing on the...
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ISICS Fall 2011 Meeting Held at Princeton...
On November 4th, the Inter-Student Initiative in Carbon Sequestration (ISICS) held its fall meeting at Princeton University for 30 participants, including RECS alumni: Mary Kang, Princeton (2010); Natalia Zakharova, Columbia (2010); Hang Deng, Princeton (2011); Mikey Hannon, UAB (2011); Amelia Paukert, Columbia (2009); Greeshma Gadikota, Columbia (2011) and Juan Nogues, Princeton (2007)....
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RECS Alumni from Tsinghua University Host CO2 Lab...
Shu Luo (RECS 2010), a Ph.D. candidate in Thermal Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing and his advisor Dr. Ruina Xu (RECS 2008) gave Pamela Tomski, RECS Founder and Director a lab tour and hosted lunch. Dr. Xu is a leading CCUS researcher in China and is heading an investigation into “Fundamental Study of Migration of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in Porous Media Under Conditions of...
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RECS Alumni and Faculty Participate in the CSLF...
In September 2011, a number of RECS alumni gathered at the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) in Beijing, China including: Dr. Ruina Xu, Tsinghua University (2008); Shu Luo, Tsinghua University (2010); Dr. Zihan Zhu, CNOOC (2010) and Chris Babel, Leonardo Technologies (2010). Dr. Xu represented China in the CSLF Technical Committee and Chris Babel provided...
July 2011
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RECS Day 9, cont. - Closing Night at Bottega
June 14th - RECS 2011 closed with a lovely evening at Bottega restaurant. Stay tuned to this blog for updates on the RECS 2011 group and the 200+ other RECS alumni and faculty that comprise the RECS network and are among the nation’s leaders in advancing CCS solutions.
RECS Founder and Director, Pamela Tomski with Greeshma Gadikota (Columbia University), Hang Deng (Princeton University)...
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RECS Day 9, cont. - Communications Training
RECS 2011 at Alabama Power headquarters in Birmingham, AL
June 14th - The RECS group went to Alabama Power’s headquarters for an afternoon of discussions on CCS communications and public engagement with Sarah Wade, National CCS Education and Outreach Coordinator and Martin Culic from C12 Energy, a company that is developing geologic storage opportunities in consultation with landowners.
...
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RECS Day 9 - Carbon Management and CCS Deployment...
June 14th - The RECS group split into five teams and received a challenge to develop a carbon management and CCS deployment strategy based on a scenario with different CO2 capture technologies. The exercise tied together all the issues presented throughout the RECS program and stimulated intense discussion. Each team presented their strategy with feedback from faculty and different groups...
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RECS Spotlight - Tuskegee University Intern
RECS 2011 intern, Freddie Eskridge, a third-year chemical engineering undergrad at Tuskegee University attended the program to provide on-site support and enhance his knowledge and primary interest in CO2 capture technologies and system integration. According to Freddie, one of the most valuable aspects of the program was learning about all components of CCS and meeting people from different...
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RECS Day 8, cont. - Baseball!
June 13th - After working intently in teams on the RECS carbon management and CCS deployment strategy challenge, the RECS group came together to spend the evening cheering on the Birmingham Barons minor league baseball team. The Barons pulled off a 2-1 win over the Mobile Bay Bears.
Ben Roth (Virginia Tech) looking particularly proud of his team
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RECS Day 8 - Natural and Industrial Analogues and...
June 13th - Wrapping up the final lecture on geologic carbon storage, Travis McLing, Sequestration Technical Lead from Idaho National Laboratory (below) discussed the importance of natural analogues (i.e. oil, gas and CO2 reservoirs) and industrial analogues (i.e. natural gas storage, CO2 enhanced oil recovery) to improving our understanding of engineered storage systems.
Travis McLing, RECS...
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RECS Day 7 - Roadside Geology of Birmingham
June 12th - Dr. Jack Pashin and his team at the Geological Survey of Alabama led the RECS group on a tour of roadside geology of Birmingham. The group visited an outcrop of a Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata where they conducted a fracture mapping exercise to better understand fluid flow in the subsurface and storage reservoir integrity.
Thomas Schenck (Pennsylvania State University) and Prem...
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RECS Day 6 - Day off at Dauphin Island
June 11th - A day off from the intense RECS schedule gave participants a chance to decompress, reflect and talk about what they learned and get to know one another better. The Duke took the group on a beautiful ride around Dauphin Island past a number of offshore oil and gas platforms and a lighthouse.
Dr. Guo-Jian Cheng, Visiting Scholar from China at West Virginia University
Mark Thomas...
RECS Day 5, cont. - Relaxing Evening at Ed's...
June 10th - After a long, hot and awesome day in the field, the RECS group enjoyed a little down time at Ed’s Seafood Shed, home of Yo Mama’s Platter and other local specialities, with a great view of Mobile Bay and some cool tunes.
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RECS Day 5, cont. - Visit to Citronelle Dome CO2...
June 10th - The Citronelle Oil Field, operated by Denbury Resources, is the site of SECARB’s Phase III “Anthropogenic Test,” a fully integrated CCS project that will inject CO2 from Alabama Power’s Plant Barry CO2 Capture Demonstration Unit. It took the RECS bus about 40 minutes to arrive at the site from Plant Barry but the pipeline, which is currently being built, will...
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RECS Day 5, cont. - Communications Training at...
Anjana Meel, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
June 10th - The vast majority of the public is not aware of CCS yet public acceptance is deemed essential to moving forward with deployment. RECS 2011 highlighted the importance of public engagement and communications through dedicated sessions with Sarah Wade, the National Education and Outreach Coordinator for the U.S. DOE Regional...
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RECS Day 5, cont. - Hands on CO2 Monitoring at...
June 10th - Surface CO2 monitoring above geologic storage formations can be an important part of a monitoring, verification and accounting (MVA) protocol that helps ensure safe storage and build public confidence. There are two primary methods to quantify the rate of CO2 release from the ground to the atmosphere. One method is chamber-based and the other is micrometeorological (i.e. Eddy...
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RECS Day 5 - Plant Barry CCS Tour
Pamela Tomski, RECS Founder & Director and Michael Ivie, Southern Company
June 10th - Just six days before the RECS visit, Southern Company put its 25 MW CO2 capture demonstration unit into operation at Alabama Power’s Plant Barry near Mobile, AL. The facility utilizes the KM CDR Process technology, jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kansai Electric...
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RECS Day 4 - Visit to the National Carbon Capture...
RECS 2011 in front of the NCCC
June 9th - The RECS group was greeted by Kerry Bowers (Southern Company), Director of the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), a facility established in 2009 by the U.S. DOE that is operated by Southern Company. The NCCC works collaboratively with technology developers worldwide to test and evaluate both pre- and post-combustion carbon capture technologies....
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RECS Day 3, cont. - RECS Alumni Run Modeling...
June 8th - Mathematical simulations play an important role in geologic CO2 storage. Modeling is likely to be required by regulations to show CO2 storage security, it is used to assess potential CO2 storage sites, and optimize site design and operations. After Dr. Ron Falta (Clemson University) gave his talk, Introduction to Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Fluid Flow in the...
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RECS Day 3, cont. - RECS Experiences VisCube
Corey Shum (UAB) conducting a visualization demonstration
June 8th - The RECS group received a tour of UAB’s 3-dimensional immersive visualization lab where they were introduced to the unique capabilities of the “VisCube” and its application to CO2 injection and storage as well as other fields such as aerodynamics and medicine. Using such a laboratory provides an effective...
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RECS Day 3, cont. - RECS Tests Caprock Integrity...
June 8th - A caprock is a rock of very low permeability that acts as an upper seal to prevent fluid flow out of the reservoir. Dr. Peter Walsh (UAB) provided a demonstration (above) of the pressure-pulse decay method for measurement of the permeability and minimum capillary displacement pressure for a caprock. The result was used to estimate (below) the maximum height of CO2 column for which the...
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RECS Day 3 - NETL Scientists Highlight Onsite...
June 8th - Dr. George Guthrie, Focus Area Leader for NETL’s Geological and Environmental Sciences Division in the Office of Research and Development and Dr. Ale Hakala, Geoscientist, highlighted key areas of NETL’s onsite research in CO2 storage for the RECS group. Dr. Hakala focused her talk on geochemistry, which plays an important role in all aspects of a storage system from...
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RECS Day 2, cont. - Visit to Alabama Power's Plant...
Nick Malkewicz (Schlumberger Carbon Services) with RECS group at location of site characterization, drilling and seismic study
June 7th - After morning lectures on the fundamentals of geological carbon storage, it was time for the RECS group to head to the field to see the location of a new site characterization study for CO2 storage from coal-fired power facilities in Alabama’s Black Warrior...
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RECS Day 2 - IPCC Lead Authors / Nobel Laureates...
Dr. Sally Benson (Stanford University) with Greeshma Gadikota (Columbia University) and Hang Deng (Princeton University)
June 7th - Drs. Sally Benson (Stanford University) and Stefan Bachu (Alberta Innovates), coordinating lead authors on the influential 2005 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, which led to receipt of the ...
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RECS 2011 - Day 1
Elizabeth Petrie (Utah State University)
June 6th - The first day of RECS offered a full day of CCS policy and business lectures and discussions as well as a preview of the field sites the RECS group will visit. RECS Founder and Director, Pamela Tomski set the stage with a special thanks to the U.S. DOE and NETL for RECS sponsorship and Southern Company and SECARB-Ed for their partnership with...
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RECS 2011 Arrives in the SECARB Region
June 5th - 30 graduate students and early career professionals flew to Birmingham, AL - home to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership - from all over the U.S. and Canada to attend RECS 2011, the premier U.S. intensive 10-day program on all aspects of CCS. RECS 2011 is a partnership between EnTech Strategies, SECARB-Ed and Southern Company...
May 2011
2 posts
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Erin Miller (RECS 2010) on Winning IBA Team
The Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) is the world’s largest and most prestigious petroleum geoscience competition hosted annually by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). Erin Miller (RECS 2010), a Graduate Student at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences was on the 2011 winning team that beat finalists from 11 global regions and was awarded...
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RECS Alumni Meet in Pittsburgh
20 RECS alumni are meeting at the 10th Annual CCS Conference in Pittsburgh. Stay tuned for updates.
April 2011
3 posts
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RECS 2011 Selections Announced
We had over 100 strong applicants for RECS 2011 and selected 30 participants. Selections include:
Yunusa Abass, DTE Energy
Antonio Baclig, C12 Energy
Prem Bikkina, University of Tulsa
Braydon Boulanger, ICF International
Beau Braunberger Western Research Institute
Pedro Carrillo-Reyes, Schlumberger
Hari Chandan, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Guo-Jian Cheng, PhD, West Virginia...
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The RECS Network
The RECS network is comprised of some of the country’s CCS leaders who are working to improve and deploy CCS systems, reduce costs and establish a competitive advantage for the U.S. The RECS network and focus on community and career building is one of the program’s most valuable aspects. Follow us to stay abreast of key CCS news and learn how people in the RECS network are making an...