It is possible to determine the amount of CO2 stored underground in reservoirs by testing the oxygen concentration of the reservoir water, according to new research from the University of Edinburgh. Conducting research at an underground storage site in the Otway Basin, in southeastern Australia, the researchers “found that the reservoir’s waters changed their oxygen composition when in contact with bubbles of trapped CO2. Testing samples of water for this altered form of oxygen provides a simple way to measure the amount of CO2 stored within the rock,” a university release explains.
“Our results highlight the promising potential of using oxygen compositions to monitor the fate of CO2 injected underground. This method is simple and cheap, and can be easily combined with other monitoring techniques for CCS projects in the UK and beyond,” Sascha Serno with the School of Geosciences said in the release.
