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Model Validation and Site Characterization for Early Deployment MHK Sites and Establishment of Wave Classification Scheme
Model Validation and Site Characterization for Early Deployment Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Sites and Establishment of Wave Classification Scheme presentation from from Water Power Technologies Office Peer Review, FY14-FY16.
Snake River Plain FORGE: Site Characterization Data
The site characterization data used to develop the conceptual geologic model for the Snake River Plain site in Idaho, as part of phase 1 of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. This collection includes data on seismic events, groundwater, geomechanical models, gravity surveys, magnetics, resistivity, magnetotellurics (MT), rock physics, stress, the geologic setting, and supporting documentation, including several papers. Also included are 3D models (Petrel and Jewelsuite) of the proposed site. Data for wells INEL-1, WO-2, and USGS-142 have been included as links to separate data collections. These data have been assembled by the Snake River Geothermal Consortium (SRGC), a team of collaborators that includes members from national laboratories, universities, industry, and federal agencies, lead by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Other contributors include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CEAS), the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University, University of Wyoming, University of Oklahoma, Energy and Geoscience Institute-University of Utah, US Geothermal, Baker Hughes Campbell Scientific Inc., Chena Power, US Geological Survey (USGS), Idaho Department of Water Resources, Idaho Geological Survey, and Mink GeoHydro.
Multifunctional landscapes: Site characterization and field-scale design to incorporate biomass production into an agricultural system
Current and future demand for food, feed, fiber, and energy require novel approaches to land management, which demands that multifunctional landscapes are created to integrate various ecosystem functions into a sustainable land use. We developed an approach to design such landscapes at a field scale to minimize concerns of land use change, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with production of food and bioenergy. This study leverages concepts of nutrient recovery and phytoremediation to place bioenergy crops on the landscape to recover nutrients released to watersheds by commodity crops. Crop placement is determined by evaluating spatial variability of: 1) soils, 2) surface flow pathways, 3) shallow groundwater flow gradients, 4) subsurface nitrate concentrations, and 5) primary crop yield. A 0.8 ha bioenergy buffer was designed within a 6.5 ha field to intercept concentrated surface flow, capture and use nitrate leachate, and minimize use of productive areas. Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) simulations show that on average, a switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum L.) or willow (Salix spp.) buffer within this catchment according to this design could reduce annual leached NO3 by 61 or 59% and N2O emission by 5.5 or 10.8%, respectively, produce 8.7 or 9.7 Mg ha-1 of biomass respectively, and displace 6.7 Mg ha-1 of corn (Zea mays L.) grain. Therefore, placement of bioenergy crops has the potential to increase environmental sustainability when the pairing of location and crop type result in minimal disruption of current food production systems and provides additional environmental benefits.
Site Characterization of the Burn Site Groundwater Area of Concern.
Abstract not provided.
WBS 2.1.5.401 - Model Validation and Site Characterization for Early Deployment MHK Sites and Establishment of Wave Classification Scheme
The "Resource Characterization" project delivers the data and tools needed to engineer robust marine renewable energy devices and projects. The project measures resource details at commercially promising sites, runs high resolution models of promising sites and regions, and develops classification schemes that streamline device engineering, project development, and increase investor confidence.
A Ten Step Protocol and Plan for CCS Site Characterization, Based on an Analysis of the Rocky Mountain Region, USA
This report expresses a Ten-Step Protocol for CO2 Storage Site Characterization, the final outcome of an extensive Site Characterization analysis of the Rocky Mountain region, USA. These ten steps include: (1) regional assessment and data gathering; (2) identification and analysis of appropriate local sites for characterization; (3) public engagement; (4) geologic and geophysical analysis of local site(s); (5) stratigraphic well drilling and coring; (6) core analysis and interpretation with other data; (7) database assembly and static model development; (8) storage capacity assessment; (9) simulation and uncertainty assessment; (10) risk assessment. While the results detailed here are primarily germane to the Rocky Mountain region, the intent of this protocol is to be portable or generally applicable for CO2 storage site characterization.
Gulf of Mexico Miocene CO2 Site Characterization Mega Transect
The project Gulf of Mexico Miocene CO2 Site Characterization Mega Transect is one of 9 site characterization projects that were implemented as part of ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Data from this project was used to improve resolution of data in NATCARB in the area of study. Data related to this study has already been incorporated in NATCARB Atlas. The University of Texas at Austin study focused on (1) collecting high-resolution, 3-D (HR3D) seismic datasets of the shallow geologic section to evaluate the capacity of potential reservoirs and the sealing capacity of the confining system, and (2) producing a regional CO2 atlas of Miocene age units of the upper Texas coast submerged lands (southeast Texas). The goal of the study was to evaluate the capability of the Miocene age geologic section of Texas submerged lands to permanently store large volumes of anthropogenic CO2. The geographic locations of three HR3D, “P-Cable” seismic surveys collected in the near-shore waters of southeast Texas offers a vertical and horizontal view (data “cube”) example from the second survey. The dataset's high quality allowed for defining recognizable geologic morphologies (shapes) and possible fluid content, which are important for determining an area’s prospects for geologic storage. The regional CO2 atlas of Miocene age units highlights several topics, including: (1) a regional analyses of petroleum systems as analogs for CO2 storage; (2) petrography, petrology, and extent of confining systems of the Miocene section; (3) static capacity estimate; and (4) examples of characterization methodologies of prospect areas. The HR3D datasets and regional analyses within the CO2 atlas of the offshore Texas Miocene provide a sound basis for a future generation of specific CO2 prospects in the study area.
Site Characterization of the Highest-Priority Geologic Formations for CO2 Storage in Wyoming
The project Site Characterization of the Highest-Priority Geologic Formations for CO2 Storage in Wyoming is one of 9 site characterization projects that were implemented as part of ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Data from this project was used to improve resolution of data in NATCARB in the area of study. Data related to this study has already been incorporated in NATCARB Atlas. The Wyoming Carbon Underground Storage Project (WY-CUSP) consisted of CO2 storage site characterization and evaluation, focusing on Wyoming’s most promising CO2 storage reservoirs (the Pennsylvanian Weber/Tensleep Sandstone and Mississippian Madison Limestone) and premier CO2 storage site (Rock Springs Uplift). Results from the WY-CUSP project suggest the two reservoirs could store up to 17,000 million tons of CO2. The WY-CUSP team drilled a stratigraphic test well and acquired a 3-D seismic survey covering 25 square miles of the Rock Springs Uplift site. The team retrieved 916 feet of core from the 12,810-foot-deep well, along with a complete log suite, borehole images, fluid samples, and other data. Project partners (1) provided continuous visual documentation of the core, including grain size, mineralogy, facies distribution, and porosity; (2) performed continuous permeability and velocity scans of selected reservoir intervals; and (3) chemically analyzed the fluid samples. WY-CUSP scientists integrated seismic attributes with observations from log suites, a VSP survey, core, fluid samples, and laboratory analyses, including continuous permeability scans. From these integrations, researchers constructed 3-D spatial distribution volumes of reservoir and seal properties that represent geological heterogeneity at the targeted CO2 storage site. The WY-CUSP team used this data to perform new CO2 plume migration simulations. Baker Hughes, Inc., completed a series of small-scale, in-situ water injectivity measurements. A database was formed when observations, analyses, and experiments from the stratigraphic test well were integrated. Correlation of these data allowed petrophysical parameters to be extrapolated from the test well out into the storage domain (5x5 mile 3-D seismic survey volume). This resulted in an improved, realistic understanding of performance assessments for potential CO2 storage scenarios. The WY-CUSP team worked on (1) improving CO2 storage resource estimates, (2) establishing long-term integrity and permanence of confining layers, (3) designing a profitable strategy for pressure management, and (4) evaluating the utilization of stored CO2 at the Rock Spring Uplift. Finally, Baker Hughes developed a microseismic baseline for the test site using in-bore geophones to complete field operations.
The Use of Geomorphometrics for Geologic Site Characterization
The Problem: Developing an accurate geologic site characterization is difficult for denied-access sites. A good understanding of the geology (both in terms of the rock types and the fracture networks) is required for event evaluation (e.g., modulation of seismic signals from the source), planning of treaty monitoring sensors (fracture play a key role in the gas migration pathways), and evaluation of containment strategies. The Hypothesis: Quantitative analysis of terrain characteristics provides a way to relate the topography (easily obtained at high resolution) to surface geology. The Method: Integration of Terrain Complexity Index (TCI, derived from surface roughness) with drainage patterns and texture to produce a "predicted" geologic map. The viability of this method was evaluated by applying the algorithm to an area of know geology (Area 15 at the Nevada Test Site - NNSS). A 10-meter digital elevation model (DEM) was used for this evaluation. The Application: We have demonstrated the utility of this method by developing an improved surface geologic map for the North Korean Test Site using a 5-meter DEM. Why Now: Improved geologic characterization of potential nuclear test sites in a number of countries is needed for a number of Nonproliferation objectives. What's Needed Next: 1) A more robust and automated interpretation algorithm for the drainage analysis aspect; 2) improved data fusion of the TCI with drainage patterns; and 3) evaluation of the potential for fracture mapping in granite using a very high resolution DEM at the NNSS site (a 1-meter DEM in on order).
Wabash CarbonSAFE Subtask 4.1 - Application of Policy Frameworks for Improved Carbon Capture and Storage Social Site Characterization & Stakeholder Engagement
Anthropogenic climate change threatens environmental and human health globally. Limiting these threats requires large-scale and innovative greenhouse gas mitigation responses across carbon-intensive energy and industrial sectors. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies present potential opportunities for mitigating climate change while maintaining a diverse energy resource portfolio. Successful development of CCS physical sites requires effective and efficient project management solutions that elicit and incorporate the concerns and perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Due to the urgency of climate change mitigation technology implementation and the costs of CCS development, CCS project developers cannot risk setbacks by poor stakeholder assessment that concern management processes. Thus, this report presents four prominent policy frameworks and associated case studies as opportunities to improve CCS social site characterization and stakeholder engagement. After comparing the relative effectiveness and efficiencies of each framework with regard to CCS, this report concludes that the Advocacy Coalition Framework, Narrative Policy Framework, and Policy Conflict Framework can improve the CCS social site characterization process, while the Collaborative Governance Framework paired with the Q-Methodology provides an ideal framework for direct stakeholder engagement. Overall, this report finds that the Narrative Policy Framework and the Collaborative Governance Framework are most ideally suited for the purposes of CCS social site characterization and stakeholder engagement.
Tidal Energy Site Characterization East Forelands Alaska
During the summer field season in 2012, Benthic GeoScience Inc. (Benthic) mobilized under contract with Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) in order to conduct precise geospatial measurements of the seafloor accomplishing a preliminary Site Characterization Study for the ORPC East Forelands Tidal Energy Power Project. This study included a high-density bathymetric survey, acoustic reflective intensity imagery, and an assessment of the physical character of the ORPC East Forelands Tidal Energy Power Project environment. The Multibeam Echosounder (MBES) survey included a large area surrounding the East Forelands of Cook Inlet in the vicinity of Nikiski, Alaska. Included in this submission are the report for the East Forelands Site Characterization Study and the accompanying data from the survey as described below. The digital deliverables from this effort include: - Comprehensive Site Characterization Report (Format: PDF, Ver. 1.1, March 2013) - Comprehensive 3D Fledermaus Presentation (Format: SCENE, Ver. 1.1, March 2013) - Bathymetric Surface (Format: ASCVer. 1, March 2013) - Slope Gradient Surface (Format: ASCVer. 1, March 2013) - Comprehensive Acoustic Intensity Image (Format: TIF/TWFVer. 1, March 2013) - Geologic Seafloor Interpretation Surface (Format: ASCVer. 1.0, March 2013) - Comprehensive Google Earth Presentation (Format: KMZVer. 1.1, March 2013)
CO 2 storage site characterization using ensemble-based approaches with deep generative models
Estimating spatially distributed properties such as permeability from available sparse measurements is a great challenge in efficient subsurface CO 2 storage operations. In this paper, a deep generative model that can accurately capture complex subsurface structure is tested with an ensemble-based inversion method for accurate and accelerated characterization of CO 2 storage sites. We chose Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network with Gradient Penalty (WGAN-GP) for its realistic reservoir property representation and Ensemble Smoother with Multiple Data Assimilation (ES-MDA) for its robust data fitting and uncertainty quantification capability. WGAN-GP are trained to generate high-dimensional permeability fields from a low-dimensional latent space and ES-MDA then updates the latent variables by assimilating available measurements. Several subsurface site characterization examples including Gaussian, channelized, and fractured reservoirs are used to evaluate the accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed method and the main features of the unknown permeability fields are characterized accurately with reliable uncertainty quantification. Furthermore, the estimation performance is compared with a widely-used variational, i.e., optimization-based, inversion approach, and the proposed approach outperforms the variational inversion method in several benchmark cases. We explain such superior performance by visualizing the objective function in the latent space: because of nonlinear and aggressive dimension reduction via generative modeling, the objective function surface becomes extremely complex while the ensemble approximation can smooth out the multi-modal surface during the minimization. This suggests that the ensemble-based approach works well over the variational approach when combined with deep generative models at the cost of forward model runs unless convergence-ensuring modifications are implemented in the variational inversion.
Best Practices Manual (BPM) for Site Characterization
The purpose of this best practices manual (BPM) is to describe lessons learned and best practices for site characterization of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) geologic storage (herein “storage”) projects. Information presented is derived from field and laboratory storage project activities conducted by the Plains CO 2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership. Site characterization is one of four technical elements of the adaptive management approach (AMA) formalized by the PCOR Partnership for storage project development. The other technical elements are modeling and simulation; risk assessment; and monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) of injected CO 2 .
Fort Nelson Test Site - Site Characterization Report
The Plains CO 2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership, led by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), is working with Spectra Energy Transmission (SET) to determine the feasibility of large-scale injection of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into a deep brine-saturated carbonate formation near Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, for the purpose of CO 2 storage. Site characterization must be conducted prior to large-scale injection of CO 2 at the Fort Nelson test site. Effective characterization supports modeling; risk assessment; and monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) programs that will constantly evolve to suit the project’s needs. Site characterization activities have been conducted to address three critical issues affecting the viability of the Fort Nelson test site: 1) the capacity of the target formation, 2) injectivity, and 3) containment – the potential for leakage of the injected CO 2 into overlying formations and/or the near-surface environment. Geochemical, mineralogical/petrophysical, geomechanical, and hydrogeological data have been collected for the purpose of supporting modeling, risk assessment, and MVA activities. The geology, stratigraphy, and lithology have been evaluated, delineated, and described for the entire sedimentary succession from the base of the Devonian age Presqu’ile reef complex to the top of the Fort Simpson shale (cap rock) in the Fort Nelson project area. The structural elements of the reef complex have been investigated to identify any existing faults and/or fractures that would allow migration of any reservoir and/or injected fluids out of the storage reservoir. On this basis, a geologic model has been built, with particular attention given to the Devonian injection interval and overlying and underlying sealing formations.
A Fiber-Optic Borehole Seismic Vector Sensor System for Geothermal Site Characterization and Monitoring
Seismic techniques are the dominant geophysical techniques for the characterization of subsurface structures and stratigraphy. The seismic techniques also dominate the monitoring and mapping of reservoir injection and production processes. Borehole seismology, of all the seismic techniques, despite its current shortcomings, has been shown to provide the highest resolution characterization and most precise monitoring results because it generates higher signal to noise ratio and higher frequency data than surface seismic techniques. The operational environments for borehole seismic instruments are however much more demanding than for surface seismic instruments making both the instruments and the installation much more expensive. The current state-of-the-art borehole seismic instruments have not been robust enough for long term monitoring compounding the problems with expensive instruments and installations. Furthermore, they have also not been able to record the large bandwidth data available in boreholes or having the sensitivity allowing them to record small high frequency micro seismic events with high vector fidelity. To reliably achieve high resolution characterization and long term monitoring of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) sites a new generation of borehole seismic instruments must therefore be developed and deployed. To address the critical site characterization and monitoring needs for EGS programs, US Department of Energy (DOE) funded Paulsson, Inc. in 2010 to develop a fiber optic based ultra-large bandwidth clamped borehole seismic vector array capable of deploying up to one thousand 3C sensor pods suitable for deployment into ultra-high temperature and high pressure boreholes. Tests of the fiber optic seismic vector sensors developed on the DOE funding have shown that the new borehole seismic sensor technology is capable of generating outstanding high vector fidelity data with extremely large bandwidth: 0.01 – 6,000 Hz. Field tests have shown that the system can record events at magnitudes much smaller than M-2.6 at frequencies up to 2,000 Hz. The sensors have also proved to be about 100 times more sensitive than the regular coil geophones that are used in borehole seismic systems today. The fiber optic seismic sensors have furthermore been qualified to operate at temperatures over 300°C (572°F). Simultaneously with the fiber optic based seismic 3C vector sensors we are using the lead-in fiber to acquire Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS) data from the surface to the bottom of the vector array. While the DAS data is of much lower quality than the vector sensor data it provides a 1 m spatial sampling of the downgoing wavefield which will be used to build the high resolution velocity model which is an essential component in high resolution imaging and monitoring.
DE-FE0031889 - North Dakota CarbonSAFE Phase III: Project Tundra Site Characterization and Permitting
Data from award DE-FE0031889 - the North Dakota CarbonSAFE Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting project, performed by the Energy & Environmental Research Center. Data includes the results of water, gas and soil gas testing done by the project, along with sampling trip notes, dates, and ancillary paperwork.