Containment risk Mitigation in Indian CO2 Storage (COMICS)

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As a signatory to the December 2015 Paris Agreement, India is committed to joining the global community in stabilising global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Centigrade. Rapidly growing economies such as India are faced with the challenge of reducing emissions from the heavy industry and power sectors while ensuring continued economic growth. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), where CO2 is removed from flue gases and injected into deep geological formations for permanent disposal, is recognised by the IPCC as an essential technology for meeting climate goals at least cost. While high-level studies have identified some potential for CO2 storage in India, a perception remains that injected CO2 may migrate upwards from the intended storage reservoir towards the surface. Lack of fundamental research that addresses this issue prohibits detailed assessment of the potential for CCS to contribute to emission reductions in India.COMICS will establish an international partnership to understand the potential for safe and secure CO2 storage in India's sedimentary basins. The team comprises researchers from the British Geological Survey (BGS) and two leading Indian research institutes engaged in CCS, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). A new £0.5M project announced by the Indian Government's Ministry of Science and Technology 'A systematic large scale assessment for potential of CO2 enhanced oil and natural gas recovery in key sedimentary basins in India' is led by IITB. The project comprises research groups; Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and industrial partners; Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Essar Oil and Gas, and the West Bengal Power Development Corporation.COMICS will complement the new Indian-funded project, combining local knowledge and expertise of the Indian consortium with the experience of the BGS CO2 storage research team. BGS has been active in CO2 research for over two decades, and undertakes related research in overburden properties, fluid-migration process, and monitoring requirements, funded by combination of UKRI (such as the current NERC Migration of CO2 through North Sea Geological Carbon Storage Sites, UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre 2017) and EC H2020 projects (such as SECURe and ENOS). Our current research portfolio is worth over £5M. The COMICS project will extend these endeavours to include Indian data acquired through the new partnership, bringing new insights to CO2 storage processes in a region recognised as being vital to meeting regional and global climate ambitions.The project will initially focus on the Cambay Basin, where the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation have proposed a pilot CO2 injection project for enhanced oil recovery. The assessment of CO2 containment risks and monitoring and conformance requirements imposed by the specific geological setting are critically important. Based on the scientific research undertaken by COMICS, recommendations for safe and secure CO2 storage in the region will be developed. The research will underpin future research and development activities, including the development of new pilot CO2 injection studies. The results will also support nascent policy and commercial development of CCS through collaboration with industrial partners and state-owned companies engaged in the parallel Government of India-funded project. Facilitating CO2 emission reductions in India through targeted research activities is a key aim of COMICS. The proposed activities are aimed at securing future joint research opportunities for UK-India collaboration through Mission Innovation, existing UKRI programmes, and transnational UK Government (BEIS) funding to foster research and innovation related to accelerating CCS technologies.