A new research project led by scientists at The University of Manchester in collaboration with global energy company Equinor will unlock crucial insights into how microbes in deep underground storage sites could impact the success of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Secure and permanent geological storage of COâ‚‚ is essential to avoid the worst-case consequences of climate change. Storage in deep geological formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers offers a promising solution. However, these underground environments host diverse microbial ecosystems, and their response to COâ‚‚ injection remains poorly understood.
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This knowledge gap poses a potential risk to long-term COâ‚‚ storage integrity. While some microbial responses may be beneficial and enhance mineralogical or biological COâ‚‚ sequestration, others could be unfavourable, leading to methane production, corrosion of infrastructure, or loss of injectivity.
The new flagship project with The University of Manchester and Equinor will investigate how subsurface microbial communities respond to COâ‚‚ injection and storage, highlighting both the potential risks and opportunities posed by these microbes.
Principal investigator, Prof Sophie Nixon, BBSRC David Phillips and Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow at The University of Manchester, said, “Over the past 20 years, scientists have tested storing COâ‚‚ underground in real-world conditions, but we still know little about how this affects native and introduced microbes living deep below the surface.
“Previous studies have shown that injecting COâ‚‚ underground actively changes microbial communities. In some cases, microbes initially decline but later recover, potentially influencing the fate of injected COâ‚‚ in geological storage scenarios. However, these studies predate the advent of large-scale metagenomic sequencing approaches. A deep understanding of who is there, what they can do and how they respond to COâ‚‚ storage is crucial for ensuring the long-term success of carbon capture and storage.”
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The two-year project will collect samples from saline aquifer and oil producing sites to study how microbes living deep underground respond to high concentrations of COâ‚‚ by combining geochemistry, gas isotope analysis, metagenomic and bioinformatic approaches.
Project co-investigator, Dr Rebecca Tyne, a Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow at The University of Manchester, said, “To date, Carbon Capture and Storage research has focused on the physiochemical behaviour of CO₂, yet there has been little consideration of the subsurface microbial impact on CO₂ storage. However, the impact of microbial processes can be significant. For instance, my research has shown that methanogenesis may modify the fluid composition and the fluid dynamics within the storage reservoir.”
