Enhancing the Circular Economy of Subsurface Green Energy Projects

气候变化的现实是世界各国政府必须面对的问题。当务之急是减少和抵消温室气体排放，以防止全球变暖，目标是到本世纪末将气温上升限制在1.5度以内。为了限制全球气温上升，许多国家承诺到2050年实现净零排放，也就是说，人为温室气体排放尽可能减少到接近零，而剩余的排放则自然消除（如森林或海洋）。实现这一目标需要许多不同的途径，如风能、太阳能和碳捕获与储存（CCS）等。该项目的重点是研究地下绿色能源项目（如CCS、储氢和地热）产生的废物流。这些项目产生了大量需要处理和处置的废盐水。由于这些盐水形成的地球化学环境，它们可能在溶液中含有技术关键元素（tce），如锂、钴或稀土金属，这些元素在电池和太阳能电池等其他绿色技术中很有价值。它们还可能含有高浓度的有毒元素，如镉，需要更高程度的处理才能处置。该项目旨在解决英国地下绿色能源项目的三个不同领域。第一个是分析英国现有的地下水数据，以了解哪里的地球化学条件最适合形成富含TCE的盐水。统计分析和地理信息系统（GIS）将用于使已汇编的地下水数据可视化。其次，了解英国CCS集群已经生产的卤水的化学成分很重要，这将通过分析来自英国四个CCS集群的样本来完成。离子色谱（IC）、电感耦合等离子体光学发射光谱（ICP-OES）和电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）等技术将用于测定这些盐水样品中的离子和金属含量。最终目标是开发可重复使用的吸附剂材料，可以从盐水中提取TCEs供将来使用，同时也可以去除有毒元素，以便在向环境排放或在其他工业中重新使用之前改善对盐水的处理。通过将目前的废物转化为TCEs的潜在来源，该项目旨在通过将地下绿色能源项目与循环经济联系起来，提高地下绿色能源项目的经济可行性。指导老师：Shannon Flynn博士和Mark Ireland博士

The reality of climate change is something that governments across the world are having to come to terms with. It is imperative that greenhouse gas emissions are both reduced and offset to prevent global warming, with the aim of limiting temperature increases to a maximum of 1.5 degrees by the end of the century. In order to limit this global temperature rise, many countries have committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which is to say that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are cut as close to zero as possible, while remaining emissions are removed naturally (such as by forests or oceans).There are many different pathways needed to achieve this such as wind, solar, and carbon capture & storage (CCS), to name a few. The focus of this project is to look at the waste streams generated from subsurface green energy projects such as CCS, hydrogen storage, and geothermal. These projects generate large volumes of waste brines that need to be treated and disposed of. Due to the geochemical environment that these brines are formed in, they may contain technologically critical elements (TCEs) in solution such as lithium, cobalt, or rare earth metals, that are valuable in other green technologies such as batteries and solar cells. They may also contain high concentrations of toxic elements such as cadmium which require a higher degree of treatment to dispose of. This project aims to address three different areas regarding subsurface green energy projects in the UK. The first is to analyse groundwater data currently available in the UK to understand where the geochemical conditions are best for the formation of TCE rich brines. Statistical analyses and geographic information systems (GIS) will be used to visualise the groundwater data that has been compiled. Secondly, it is important to understand the chemical composition of the brines that are already being produced by CCS clusters in the UK, and this will be done by analysing samples from four of the UK's CCS clusters. Techniques such as ion chromatography (IC), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) will be used to determine the content of ions and metals in these brine samples. The final objective is to develop reusable sorbent materials that can extract TCEs from brines for future use, while also removing toxic elements to improve the treatment of brines before disposal to the environment or reuse in other industries.By turning what is currently a waste product into a potential source of TCEs, this project aims to enhance the economic viability of subsurface green energy projects by tying them into the circular economy. William NorfolkSupervisors: Dr Shannon Flynn & Dr Mark Ireland