Geological Survey to Start for Demonstration of CO2 Sequestration, off Hokkaido

Photo courtesy of Japan CCS Co., Ltd.

Japan CCS Co., a company specializing in carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) investigation, announced on July 3, 2009, that it will conduct a geological survey using a three-dimensional (3-D) seismic imaging off the coast of Tomakomai City, Hokkaido. Japan CCS was established in May 2008, with currently 37 corporate shareholders from various industries, including electric power, oil wholesale and development, and engineering. The survey aims to evaluate the capability of the strata for the selection of CCS demonstration site.

The survey is sponsored and commissioned by the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry of Japan. Oil and gas exploration surveys conducted at the site in the past decades confirmed the presence of saline aquifer systems suitable for storing carbon dioxide at depths more than about 1,100 meters beneath the seabed. The planned survey aims to acquire more precise 3D geological data for the delineation of distribution of cap rocks (mudstone layers) and reservoir layers (sandstone layers) that form the aquifer systems.

The survey area, located approximately 2 kilometers offshore of Tomakomai, measures about 2 kilometers east to west and 3 kilometers north to south. Sensor cables of 3-kilometers length will be laid parallel to one another on the sea floor. Air guns in the sea will generate elastic waves, which will travel through the formations, and reflected waves from the formation boundary will be recorded by sensors within the cables. The survey is scheduled to conducted in October to November 2009, including a four-week 3-D seismic imaging operation at sea. The expertise acquired in this survey will also be used in surveying other candidate sites.

Posted: 2009/10/18 06:00:15