IUCRC Planning Grant Texas A&M University: Center for Energy-Related Geologic Storage (ERGS)

About This Grant

This planning grant for the Energy-Related Geologic Storage (ERGS) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) enables the interaction between university faculty and companies in the energy and subsurface fluid/gas injection sectors of the economy. Its goal is to identify mutual interests of both university faculty and companies that can lead to use-inspired, university-driven innovations and knowledge needed by industry to overcome hurdles that are holding it back from developing new products and services that benefit the economy and society. Activities include training university faculty in customer discovery and their developing a value proposition for Center research that aligns with critical industry needs and is capable of attracting investment from the private sector. The resulting industry-funded, use-inspired research focuses on global geological subsurface storage resources capable of securely containing buoyant fluids/gases critical for the energy and low carbon economy. Center research will also provide much needed understandings of processes, using AI, machine learning, and novel materials for well completion to prevent greenhouse gas leakage. It also develops solutions to address subsurface gas/fluid containment risks and mitigation for fluid/gas extraction and/or injection. Gases and buoyant fluids, subject to investigation, include, but are not limited to, hydrogen, compressed air, and methane. Broader impacts of the work include research that aligns with the critical needs of the U.S. energy and subsurface storage sectors of the economy and workforce training of students who are involved in the industry-aligned research activities. The new Center will enact integrative research that aligns with industry needs related to storage mechanisms, reservoir and drill hole integrity, and associated scientific and engineering issues that impact the geological storage and containment of fluids. The Center is motivated by the nation’s need to sequester the gases/fluids emitted, as a result of energy production, that need to be stored in secure, large volume, subsurface reservoirs. The Center will use a variety of machine learning techniques and AI to assess geological storage capacity and formation heterogeneities, and security. It will develop novel materials and drilling/wellbore completion techniques to provide for a secure energy and environmental future. The Center research team has extensive expertise in exploration geoscience for the energy industry and for the assessment of hydrocarbon resources. It also has engineering expertise in well drilling and borehole completion. Research will focus on analyzing sedimentary basin potential for storage and and risks related to geological factors such as subsurface faults and basin margin exposures. It will work to provide solutions that dramatically reduce and/or eliminate wellbore leakage and determining the leak potential of reservoirs. Research will utilize university faculty expertise and innovative ideas and approaches as well as university infrastructure of Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State University, the two Sites that form the Center. The research serves the national interest by promoting the progress of science and engineering and helps to advance national prosperity and national energy security. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.