The increasing global focus on carbon sequestration underscores the need for comprehensive CO2 storage atlases, extending beyond Europe and America to other countries that are significant contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. This article addresses this imperative by examining the CO2 storage potential in the Lurestan area of Iran, with a specific focus on static reservoir modelling and capacity calculation. Our approach involves evaluating potential reservoirs for carbon sequestration using seismic data and well logs followed by site ranking using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. An in-depth evaluation was then performed on the highest ranking available reservoir. This included construction of a 3D geological model based on integrated well log and seismic data followed by population of the defined reservoir and seal layers with crucial properties based on available well logs. Finally, reservoir storage capacity was estimated using a volumetric approach.

A methodology is presented for the objective and transparent screening of hydrocarbon reservoirs for underground hydrogen storage (UHS), with subsequent testing on a large confidential dataset provided by the energy company Eni. The procedure uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process and the Delphi technique to gather expert opinions and weight 27 screening parameters in terms of: health, safety, and environment; geotechnical performance; and economic performance. A set of scores is produced that characterizes each site in terms of these three categories, as well as a comprehensive site ranking based on their overall suitability for UHS. The results highlight the importance of geotechnical parameters, while the characterization of faults and hydrocarbon type, the onshore or offshore location, the number of wells, and the reservoir architecture yielded the highest individual weights. Potential scores are also estimated for sites with incomplete datasets. Two blind tests evaluated the method's effectiveness against preexisting industrial assessments.

Microfaunal analyses were conducted near Scoglio d’Affrica in the Tuscan Archipelago (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea), to study the response of benthic foraminifera to methane (CH4) venting activity that occurs in this shallow water environment. Our data show that sedimentary processes linked to the CH4 emissions exert a strong influence on foraminiferal assemblages, resulting in a very patchy spatial distribution linked to complex abiotic and biotic interactions. Methane emissions and mud represent the two main stressor factors for the benthic foraminiferal assemblages, although at present it is not possible to determine which impact dominates.Five different morphological settings, controlled by venting activity, were defined on and off the mud volcanoes (MVs). Each of these settings has distinct assemblages: 1) areas with strong emission activity at the top of the MVs, locally associated with gryphons and mudflows, where the environmental conditions are clearly prohibitive for foraminiferal life; 2) mud flows along the MV flanks, where overlapping mudflows likely limit foraminiferal colonization; 3) muddy sediments associated with weak emissions where the development of foraminiferal community is favored, although with differences in terms of density, diversity and compositional features linked to the timing of colonization by each species; 4) intermatte zones with scarce or absent emissions, characterized by typical shallow water taxa indicative of well-oxygenated and highly hydrodynamic conditions; and 5) Posidonia oceanica substrates, characterized by higher foraminiferal content on the leaves compared to the rhizomes and surrounding sediments; indeed, sediments and rhizomes were more impacted by emissions, whereas Posidonia leaves offer “refugia” and a more mitigated environment.Although it is difficult to define a pattern of biota response and to identify seep-exclusive taxa, foraminifera can represent good environmental proxies for both monitoring the variability of recent venting activity and detecting stressed conditions occurring in the geological record. The seafloor around Scoglio d’Affrica represents a very promising study site for multidisciplinary marine research regarding venting activity, geochemistry of cold seep fluids and their effects on benthic organisms.

COREu is a pioneering Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project funded by the European Community that aims to demonstrate key technologies across the entire value chain at study sites in southern and central Europe. As the largest Research and Innovation project in CCS ever funded by a European programme, COREu aims to move industry closer to implementing integrated, transnational projects that connect emitters with storage sites across Europe. The 4-year project started January 1st, 2024, and brings together over 40 partners from industry, research institutes, and universities across 13 countries. A total of four potential transport routes / storage areas (located in Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Greece) will be studied within COREu. While work on the first three sites will concentrate more on specific issues of local importance, a full-chain demonstration will be performed at the Kavala-Prinos site in NE Greece. Here, CO2 will be injected at 2700-3000 m below the sea floor into a sand unit that underlies the presently exploited oil reservoir, meaning that the project is pure storage with no enhanced oil recovery. In addition to all the other work planned for this site, COREu will also conduct environmental monitoring to define baseline biogeochemical and biological conditions within the shallow sediments and overlying water column, both above the storage reservoir and along the route of a planned CO2 pipeline. Work will be performed during 4 field campaigns, one per season, and will involve the measurement of numerous parameters important for offshore CCS monitoring. This will include, amongst others, atmospheric CO2 values, the concentration and isotopic content of dissolved CO2 and other gases, nutrients, and eDNA analyses of sediment and water to assess biodiversity variations. In addition to this discrete sampling, monitoring probes for the continuous measurement of dissolved CO2 and temperature will be installed to provide a more detailed picture of natural temporal variability of this gas in the water column linked to climatic conditions and the associated biochemical system.

In Italy, the central-northern Apennines and Adriatic Sea domains have been identified as potential CO2 storage areas. Although capacity estimates have been undertaken at a regional scale, more detailed research is required to reduce uncertainty. The present study helps address this gap by conducting a detailed screening of a representative area in the north-western Adriatic Sea for suitable CCS sites, using an extensive dataset composed of both public and private seismic and borehole data. Work included selecting suitable sites based on proposed selection criteria, calculating their theoretical and effective storage capacities applying a probabilistic approach, and then performing dynamic flow modelling on one of the selected sites that is representative of fractured carbonate reservoirs. Based on the screening results, a total of 21 out of 38 structures were selected as having the required characteristics suitable for CO2 storage. As expected, the clastic rock reservoirs have the greatest potential capacity, although some fractured carbonate reservoirs did yield important volumes due to their dual porosity / permeability characteristics. Modelling of one such site highlighted the complex interplay between primary and secondary porosity / permeability on plume migration and capacity estimation. Our results highlight the need to integrate analytical calculations with dynamic simulations for more detailed, site-specific studies to improve the estimates of CO2 storage capacity.

Val d’Agri is a seismically active intermontane basin in southern Italy known for hosting the largest on-shore hydrocarbon reservoir in western Europe. Despite extensive study of the basin, important questions remain regarding fluid circulation and the possible link between deep hydrocarbon reservoirs, faults, natural and induced seismicity, and gas migration towards the surface. To address some of these issues we performed near-surface gas geochemistry and structural geology surveys throughout the basin at both the regional and local scale. While carbon dioxide data are due to shallow, biological processes in the soil, anomalous results for other gas species are interpreted as being linked to structural discontinuities. Coincident methane and ethane anomalies, which imply a deep thermogenic origin, occur primarily in the northern part of the Val d’Agri basin. The most dominant alignment of these gases starts from a surface hydrocarbon seep and extends above a buried, NE-SW-striking fault that transects the valley. In contrast, radon anomalies are localized in the southern part of the basin along the western border, in correspondence with the Monti della Maddalena Fault System (MMFS) and a cluster of background natural seismicity. The origin and implications of the observed anomalies are discussed.

Regional and detailed near-surface gas geochemistry data from the Val d'Agri Basin, southern Italy. EXCEL file includes: - Soil gas concentrations from 60 cm depth for: 222Rn, 220Rn, He, CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H8, CO2, O2, N2 - CO2 gas flux

Radon is a natural radioactive gas produced by the decay of its parent nuclide in bearing rocks and soils. Inhalation of radon gas poses a serious risk for human health and the World Health Organization stated the doubtless correlation between long exposure to radon gas and lung cancer. In this context, 76 indoor radon measurements in private and public buildings were performed in the Ciampino municipality. This study was carried out within the framework of the LIFE-Respire project. Indoor radon concentration was measured by using passive nuclear track detectors (CR-39) and analysed using RADOSYS system at INGV Radionuclides laboratory. Measurements were carried out in winter and summer seasons to assess the range of seasonal fluctuations, as recognised elsewhere. Results show a substantial increase of maximum indoor values in winter (up to 1575 Bq/m3) that are two times higher than those measured in the summer period (up to 764 Bq/m3). The annual mean and median values (283 and 203 Bq/m3, respectively) are both below the EU recommended limit of 300 Bq/m3.Moreover, a questionnaire on radon risk perception was designed for the specific context of the LIFE-Respire project and distributed in a sample of residents and students in the Municipality of Ciampino to measure, among many other aspects, the salience of the hazard, knowledge of the hazard and of hazard mitigation strategies, perceived preparedness of and trust in officials, sources of received information and preferred methods of receiving information, and the level of interest in the project approach (including remediation measures).

A critical aspect of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will be the ability to adequately monitor the injection site, both to ensure public and environmental safety and for “carbon credit auditing”. In the unlikely event of a leakage in the near-surface environment, the study of natural CO2 emanations in volcanic and geothermal environments have shown that the gas will tend to migrate along the path of least resistance and create spatially restricted “hotspot” leaks at the ground surface that can be challenging to find and quantify. For this reason, innovative technologies are required to improve our ability to detect, locate and characterize such features. To address this need our group is developing geochemical monitoring tools that confront the significant challenges associated with spatial, analytical and temporal resolution and sensitivity. Here we describe on-going work focused on increasing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of five prototypes and concepts developed by the Tectonics and Fluid Chemistry Lab (TFCL) at Sapienza University of Rome: the GasPro, Mapper, Multipla, Well-Star, and SWiM systems.

The standard method for mapping and quantifying CO2 leakage flux from the ground surface to the atmosphere involves performing numerous point flux measurements using the accumulation chamber technique and then applying geostatistical interpolation to infer spatial distribution and estimate total mass transfer. Monte Carlo simulations using the program MCFlux have recently demonstrated, however, that uncertainty in the resultant estimate can be large if the chosen sample spacing is insufficient to capture the spatial complexity and size distribution of the leakage anomalies. In an effort to reduce this uncertainty we have developed a new tool, called the Ground CO2 Mapper, that rapidly measures the concentration of CO2 at the ground surface as a proxy for flux. Recently published results have illustrated the capabilities of the Mapper in terms of sensitivity and spatial resolution, as well as possible influencing parameters such as wind strength. The present work examines the potential of combining Mapper results with point flux measurements (using multivariate geostatistics) to improve data interpretation, with the MCFlux program being used once again to assess uncertainty in the final estimates.

Radon (222Rn) is a natural radioactive gas formed in rocks and soil by the decay of its parent nuclide (238-Uranium). The rate at which radon migrates to the surface, be it along faults or directly emanated from shallow soil, represents the Geogenic Radon Potential (GRP) of an area. Considering that the GRP is often linked to indoor radon risk levels, we have conducted multi-disciplinary research to: (i) define local GRPs and investigate their relationship with associated indoor Rn levels; (ii) evaluate inhaled radiation dosages and the associated risk to the inhabitants; and (iii) define radon priority areas (RPAs) as required by the Directive 2013/59/Euratom. In the framework of the EU-funded LIFE-Respire project, a large amount of data (radionuclide content, soil gas samples, terrestrial gamma, indoor radon) was collected from three municipalities located in different volcanic districts of the Lazio region (central Italy) that are characterised by low to high GRP. Results highlight the positive correlation between the radionuclide content of the outcropping rocks, the soil Rn concentrations and the presence of high indoor Rn values in areas with medium to high GRP. Data confirm that the Cimini–Vicani area has inhalation dosages that are higher than the reference value of 10 mSv/y.

Locating and quantifying anomalous, deep-origin CO2 leakage from the soil to the atmosphere is typically accomplished by interpolating a dataset of point flux measurements, with overall accuracy and uncertainty strongly influenced by sample spacing relative to anomaly size and variability. To reduce this uncertainty we have developed the Ground CO2 Mapper, a low-cost complementary tool that rapidly measures, at high spatial resolution, the distribution of CO2 concentration at the ground-air contact as a proxy of CO2 flux. Laboratory tests show that the Mapper has a low noise level (2 sigma = 16 ppm) and fast response time (T90 = 1.55 s), while field tests at a small controlled-release site define a high level of reproducibility and sensitivity and illustrate the impact of wind and survey speed on instrument response. Modelling based on these results indicates that the Mapper has a greater than 60% probability of detecting an intersected 2 m wide anomaly having a maximum CO2 flux rate of 75 and 100 g m(-2) d(-1) at survey speeds of 2.5 and 4.8 km h-1, respectively, under the test conditions. Mea-surements in a large (4600 m2) grassland field where natural geogenic CO2 is leaking show how the Mapper can produce, in < 10% of the time, a more detailed map of CO2 flux distribution than a point flux survey conducted on a ca. 10 m grid spacing. Based on these results we believe the Ground CO2 Mapper can give a useful contribution to diffuse degassing studies in volcanic/geothermal areas and to monitoring of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) sites by reducing overall survey time, costs and uncertainty. Future work will test the Mapper's response and capabilities under more diverse site and meteorological conditions than those examined in this study.

Accurately locating and quantifying carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage to the atmosphere is important for diffuse degassing studies in volcanic / geothermal areas and for safety monitoring and/or carbon credit auditing of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) sites. This is typically conducted by measuring CO2 flux at numerous points over a large area and applying statistics or geostatistical interpolation. Accuracy of the results will depend on many factors related to survey/data-processing choices and site characteristics, and thus uncertainties can be difficult to quantify. To address this issue, we have developed a Monte Carlo-based program (MC-Flux) that repeatedly subsamples a high-resolution synthetic or real dataset using a choice of different sampling strategies (one random and four grid types) at multiple user-defined sample densities. The program keeps track of the anomalies found and estimates total flux using two statistical and two geostatistical approaches from the literature. This paper describes the use of MC-Flux to assess the potential impact of various sampling and interpretation decisions on the accuracy of the final results. Simulations show that an offset grid sample distribution yields the best results, however relatively dense sampling is required to obtain a high probability of an accurate flux estimate. For the test dataset used, ordinary kriging interpolation produces a range of flux estimates that are centered on the true value while sequential Gaussian simulation tends to slightly overestimate values at intermediate sample spacings and is sensitive to input parameters. These results point to the need for developing new approaches that decrease uncertainty, such as integration with high-resolution co-kriging datasets that complement the more accurate point flux measurements.

We present a new method for deriving surface soil gas flux at the field scale, which is less fieldwork intensive than traditional chamber techniques and less expensive than those derived from airborne or space surveys. The “open-field” technique uses aspects of chamber and micrometeorological methods combined with a mobile platform and GPS to rapidly derive soil gas fluxes at the field scale. There are several assumptions in using this method, which will be most accurate under stable atmospheric conditions with little horizontal wind flow. Results show that soil gas fluxes, when averaged across a field site, are highly comparable between the open-field method and traditional chamber acquisition techniques. Atmospheric dilution is found to reduce the range of flux values under the open-field method, when compared to chamber-derived results at the field scale. Under ideal atmospheric conditions it may be possible to use the open-field method to derive soil gas flux at an individual point; however this requires further investigation. The openfield method for deriving soil–atmosphere gas exchange at the field scale could be useful for a number of applications including quantification of leakage from CO2 geological storage sites, diffuse degassing in volcanic and geothermal areas, and greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when combined with traditional techniques.

Abstract Here, we investigate the importance of net CH4 production and emissions in the carbon (C) budget of a small productive lake by monitoring CH4, CO2, and O2 for two consecutive years. During the study period, the lake was mostly a net emitter of both CH4 and CO2, while showing positive net ecosystem production. The analyses suggest that during the whole study period, 32% ± 26% of C produced by net ecosystem production was ultimately converted to CH4 and emitted to the atmosphere. When converted to global warming potential, CH4 emission (in CO2 equivalents) was about 3–10 times higher than CO2 removal from in‐lake net ecosystem production over 100‐yr and 20‐yr time frames, respectively. Although more work in similar systems is needed to generalize these findings, our results provide evidence of the important greenhouse gas imbalance in human‐impacted aquatic systems.

A violent gas outburst occurred offshore the Scoglio d'Affrica islet (Tuscan Archipelago, Northern Tyrrhenian Sea) on March 16th 2017, with local fishermen observing columns of dirty water rising up to 10 m above the sea surface. The integration of video footage and dissolved CH4 measurements collected 5 days after the event with high-resolution multibeam data collected 4 months later, allowed us to characterize the source area of the outburst, corresponding to a shallow-water mud volcano. The mud volcano covers an area of ca. 170,000 m(2), has a vertical relief of ca. 30 m with respect to the surrounding seafloor and an estimated volume of ca. 1 x 10(6) m(3), based on bathymetric reconstruction. The elongated NNW-SSE shape of the mud volcano is compatible with local structural trends, indicating a tectonic control for its development. The mud volcano is made up of two mounds whose tops are located at a depth of ca. 10 m. The southern mound was responsible for the 2017 outburst, as testified by a 15-20 m wide circular crater on its summit where a large amount of mud breccia and diffuse seepage from small pockmarks were observed in video footage. The flanks of the mud volcano are steep and characterized in the upper part by a hummocky morphology and multiple sediment flows on the western flank. The characterization of the mud volcano and the deposits associated with the 2017 gas outburst provides insight into seafloor-shaping processes linked to fluid seepage in shallow-water sectors. This is a particularly relevant issue considering both the paucity of studies on shallow-water mud volcanoes as well as the hazard associated with violent gas outbursts in such settings, as witnessed by the March 16th 2017 event.

Although Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been demonstrated successfully on many occasions, the potential leakage of deep sequestrated CO2 into shallow groundwater remains a concern. To address this, an artificial injection experiment was performed at the K-COSEM test site in Eumseong, South Korea, that involved the release of CO2-infused water (16.9 kg of CO2 in 5 m(3)) containing He and Kr tracers into a shallow, heterogeneous, weathered-granite aquifer. The initial CO2-fluid was slightly oversaturated at the subsurface injection point, and thus the plume was expected to initially degas CO2 before equilibrating at in-situ conditions. Monitoring of carbonate system parameters in nearby observation wells helped define the evolution of the injected fluids, while the noble gas tracers were used to clearly define the physical behavior of the CO2 plume (including an estimate of degassed CO2 equal to 0.9-3.1%). This study demonstrates the potential use of noble gases for monitoring CO2 leakage in shallow aquifers, constraining mass balance and phase changes of leaking fluids, and better understanding local flow pathways. Furthermore, breakthrough of noble gases in this study was different from some previous experiments, suggesting that monitoring efficiency of these tracers may depend on leakage and site conditions.

Although deployment of onshore CO2 storage will be crucial to reach the EU’s ambitious goal of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, some stakeholders are concerned about potential risks if CCS is situated on land near populated areas. The EU-funded, Horizon 2020 project ENOS (ENabling Onshore CO2 Storage in Europe) is addressing many of these concerns about onshore storage by demonstrating best practices through pilot-scale projects and field laboratories, integrating CO2 storage in local economic activities, and creating a favorable environment through public engagement, knowledge sharing and capacity building/training. As part of this work, ENOS is using sites where natural, geologically produced CO2 is leaking to the surface, to test innovative monitoring tools and to better understand gas migration pathways and early warning signs that could be detected in the unlikely event of CO2 leakage. At least four natural leakage sites are being used in central Italy, including the well-known Latera caldera as well as San Vittorino valley, Ailano, and Fiumicino. All sites exhibit the leakage of almost pure CO2 along bedrock faults and through overlying sediments prior to release to the atmosphere, but each has unique characteristics related to the origin of the leaking gas, the composition of the local bedrock, depth to water table, soil properties, and ground surface conditions. Results from recent ENOS field campaigns at these sites are presented, focusing on data and interpretation related to i) large area, rapid leakage mapping and quantification tools; ii) innovative methods to determine the source of a CO2 anomaly; iii) CO2 leakage style as a function of near-surface conditions.

Sea ice monitoring is important for both climate change studies and potential trans-Arctic shipping. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been demonstrated to be a powerful method to retrieve sea ice thickness and gain information about its internal structure. Nevertheless, its applicability can be strongly limited in the case of very low ice thickness and high salinity content. This paper presents results from a field experiment performed under such conditions which integrated GPR data and s-parameters measurements with Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) on artificial sea ice grown at the SERF research site in Winnipeg, Canada. The observed dielectric behavior has been used to monitor sea ice growth, relating the electrical conductivity to temperature evolution and brine content. Results demonstrate the capability of both GPR and VNA techniques in the investigation of sea ice properties under non-ideal conditions.