New Approaches and Contents for a Brazilian Atlas of Carbon Capture and Storage

Abstract

Recent concerns about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have a clear effect on the energy sector, directly affecting the use of fossil fuels. The Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) becomes an increasingly present object of study among mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can contribute around 14% of total energy-related CO₂ reductions by 2050. One of these contributions is the production of Atlases of Capture and Carbon Storage which seeks to systematize and organize the several aspects involving the use of CCS technologies such as technical approach, public perception, economy, environmental risks and weaknesses, spatial potentialities, social risks, regulatory aspects, interactive and online content. The goal of the work is a comparative analysis of the information presented in five different CCS Atlases from different countries such as Brazil, United States, Canada, Mexico, Norway and South Africa that are available for public access, which could complement the publication of a new Atlas for southeastern Brazil, including information about social and environmental issues that are not considered in the current one. The descriptive comparison of five Atlases allows a critical thinking about the methodology and content to be presented by the new CCS Atlas in production currently in Brazil by the Research Centre for Gas Innovation of University of São Paulo. The approach of the five Atlases is mainly technological, focusing on explaining methodologies, geological reservoirs to be considered and calculations of potentialities for CO₂ storage. There’s clearly a lack of information regarding other areas that concern the application of carbon capture and storage technologies effectively in most of the atlases or even the origin of the sources collected for the data analysis. In conclusion, the work addresses the presence and absence of these topics in the various Atlases, making it possible to discuss interesting approaches in the new Brazilian Atlas. It is believed that the Atlas in production in Brazil, following these various suggestions together with the technical data, will present new aspects to create an Atlas of CCS for southeastern Brazil from the geological perspective integrated with public perception, economy, environmental and safety issues, as well as the regulations that should be in place.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90350 © 2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, May 19-22, 2019