The CLEAN Project will give an answer to the question as to whether CO2 is suited to mobilise natural gas quantities at the Altmark site which cannot be extracted by conventional methods from the nearly depleted Altmark natural gas field. The injected CO2 will increase the reservoir pressure; this may enhance natural gas recovery and could lead to a continuation of natural gas production over further decades.
The CLEAN Project contributes significantly to a scientific and unbiased assessment of underground storage of CO2 in the context of modern climate change. As CO2 storage is an important option for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the global context, the findings from the CLEAN project may be applied to CO storage in depleted gas fields worldwide.
During the lifetime of the pilot project nearly 100,000 tons of CO2 are to be injected into the hydraulically and structurally isolated Altensalzwedel subfield in a depth of more than 3,000 m. A large number of investigations (eg. baseline monitoring) are performed before the injection of CO2. The latter will only commence after the implementation of a national CCS-legislation and subsequent permission by the federal administration.
The CLEAN Project is being implemented by 16 scientific institutions and commercial enterprises of Germany and has been financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the GEOTECHNOLOGIEN Programme since July 2008. Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ is the project manager and coordinator. The owner of the Altmark gas field, GDF SUEZ E&P Deutschland GmbH, provides the Altensalzwedel subfield. The project will run over a period of three years.
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