This chapter provides an overview of how monitoring is addressed
in legislation and directives, how guidelines and protocols have
been developed to interpret the legislation and how some of the
early integrated industrial scale CCS projects have incorporated
monitoring plans in their permit applications.
The chapter starts with a thorough review of the various
legislative regimes, with a main focus on Europe and the CCS
directive. The associated guidelines developed in the so-called
Guidance Documents provide more practical information on how to
translate legislative monitoring requirements to a practical
implementation. Besides the CCS directive, the ETS directive and
its associated ETS-MRG guidelines are discussed. The latter
describe at a high level, how monitoring should be measured and
quantified in case leakage to the surface or sea water column
occurs.
Besides European legislation, developments in the US, Canada and
Australia are described, where legislation is furthest advanced
after Europe. It is not surprising, that many similarities can be
observed.
Finally the contents concerning monitoring of various
international documents such as OSPAR, the London Convention, the
IEA-MRF and CO2QUALSTORE are described. It must be noted, that the
high level content of most of these documents have been
incorporated in the EU storage directive.
The last part of the chapter is dedicated to examples of
integrated industrial scale projects implementing monitoring plans
in their permit applications (several located in the EU and one in
Canada). Information has been taken from published FEED studies as
well as from storage permit applications. As one might expect,
major differences exist between onshore storage (e.g. the Quest
project in Canada) and offshore storage (e.g. the ROAD project in
the Netherlands). However, it is worth mentioning, that with
existing current technology decent monitoring programs have been
proposed.
Risk assessmentA process intended to calculate or estimate the risk to a given target, part of a risk management system is considered a key element in a CO2Carbon dioxide storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere project, as exemplified by the prominent position of risk assessmentA process intended to calculate or estimate the risk to a given target, part of a risk management system in the various regulatory documents including the EUEuropean Union storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere directive. The most important tool for successful riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event management is monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions. Smith et al., 2011a provide a good basic definition of monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions, namely "continuous or repeated observation of a situation to detect changes that may occur over time". The essential role of monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions according to the EUEuropean Union directive Guidance Document 2 can be summarised as: a) to confirm containmentRestriction of the movement of a fluid to a designated volume (e.g. reservoir) of CO2Carbon dioxide, b) to alert in case of increased leakage(in CO2 storage) The escape of injected fluid from the storage formation to the atmosphere or water column riskConcept that denotes the product of the probability of a hazard and the subsequent consequence of the associated event, c) to identify leakage(in CO2 storage) The escape of injected fluid from the storage formation to the atmosphere or water column and/or significant irregularities, and d) to verify the CO2 plumeDispersing volume of CO2-rich phase contained in target formation behaviour. Moreover, monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions should ensure the effectiveness of any corrective measures applied. As a result, monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions issues are given top priority in the EUEuropean Union and other international legal documents and guidelines.
The regulatory process on CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage started in the early nineties after energy policy strategies were adopted at an international level. The list of regulatory documents which paved the way towards CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage at the industrial level is extensive. The aim of this Chapter is not to describe all of these documents in detail, but rather to point to some of the most prominent milestones for the implementation of CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage technology with a particular focus on monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions and reporting with respect to the geological storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere of CO2Carbon dioxide at the EUEuropean Union level.
At present, the EUEuropean Union legal framework that enables CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage industrial operations is in place, though revisions based on experiences are still foreseen by June 30, 2015 (recital 48, EU CCS DirectiveDirective 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide 2009/31/ECEuropean Commission). Regulatory processes ran simultaneously in other parts of the world. Relevant legislation on monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions and reporting for CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage is currently implemented amongst others in the USA, Canada and Australia.
In this Chapter specific provisions and solutions related to monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions and reporting issues from different regulatory regimes are compared, but with the main emphasis on EUEuropean Union regulations. The following sections discuss various approaches that were followed in individual countries, differences and similarities in provisions applied, specific requirements in the reporting and verification(CO2 storage) The proof, to a standard still to be decided, of the CO2 storage using monitoring results; (in the context of CDM) The independent review by a designated operational entity of monitored reductions in anthropogenic emissions process and solutions adopted for on- and offshore storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere sites.
The main emphasis is on the EU CCS DirectiveDirective 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide, but a brief overview of other documents will be discussed. In general one could say that all early regulatory documents are included in the EU CCS DirectiveDirective 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide.
As examples the monitoringMeasurement and surveillance activities necessary for ensuring safe and reliable operation of a CGS project (storage integrity), and for estimating emission reductions plans of a number of industrial projects, that will operate under the umbrella of the most recent CCSCarbon dioxide Capture and Storage legislation, have been analysed. It must be noted, that none of these projects is operational yet, and the advancement in applying for storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere licenses varies widely. Nevertheless, it is instructive to see, how legislation has been interpreted and applied by the various industrial proposers in their applications. The analysis is limited in the sense, that it is only based on information publicly available. A number of potential storage(CO2) A process for retaining captured CO2, so that it does not reach the atmosphere sites in Europe have been analysed, of which the information on one Dutch and two UK projects is furthest advanced. Besides the European sites, also the Quest project in Canada has been analysed, since it received a license with minister's approval together with wellManmade hole drilled into the earth to produce liquids or gases, or to allow the injection of fluids license approval in 2012.