Co-chairs: Don DePaolo (LBNL and UC Berkeley) Lynn Orr (Stanford University)

1. Workshop on:Basic Research Needs in Geosciences: Facilitating 21st Century Energy SystemsFebruary 20-24, 2007 Co-chairs:Don DePaolo (LBNL and UC Berkeley)Lynn Orr (Stanford University) Organizing Committee / Panel Leads: Sally Benson (LBNL - Stanford)Michael Celia (Princeton)Andy Felmy (PNNL)Kathryn Nagy (U. Chicago-CC)Roel Snieder (Colorado Sch. Mines)Graham Fogg (U.C. Davis)Karsten Pruess (LBNL)James Davis (USGS) Julio Friedmann (LLNL) (TPRD - CCS)Mark Peters (ANL) (TPRD - NW) BES shepherds: Nick Woodward and John Miller

2. Workshop:Feb. 20-24, 2007 Report published:July 10, 2007 http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html

3. Outline • Technical challenges • CO2 sequestration • Nuclear waste disposal • Workshop organization • Summary of results

4. Two driving objectives • Meeting energy demand in the coming century • Drastically reducing CO2 emissions Standard Fossil Fuel ± Hydrogen Economy => Sequester 10 Gt CO2/yr Expand Nuclear by 10x => Sequester SNF at ≈ 1 Yucca Mtn/Yr globally

5. Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy report.... "Because both gas and coal reforming processes generate CO2 (coal generates approximately twice as much per unit H2) their value in meeting the fundamental goals of a hydrogen economy (150 million tons/yr by 2040) depends on developing safe, effective and economical methods for CO2 sequestration." (p.19) "Reliance on coal as a sole source of energy for generating hydrogen for Freedom Car transportation needs would require doubling of current domestic coal production and consumption." (p.11) (330,000 MW today)

6. Basic Research Needs for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems report.... ... for nuclear power to have a significant impact on energy production and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ... Estimated needs for nuclear power production are as high as 300 EJ/year by the year 2050, .... This represents nearly an order-of-magnitude increase over the ~440 nuclear reactors that are presently in operation. .... advanced waste forms will have to be designed to ensure safe performance for periods ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years... in the complex, highly coupled natural environment of the near field in a geologic repository

7. "Underground" as a long term container • Advantages • Enormous volume (as required) • Distance from the surface environment • Pre-made container • Challenges • Designed by nature, only approximately fits the design criteria for containment • Complex materials => complex processes • Difficult to see and monitor • Uncertainty about long-term performance (102-106 yr)

8. Technical Perspectives Multiphase Fluid Transport in Geologic Media Figure 1: Options for storing CO2 in underground geological formations. After Benson and Cook (2005).

9. CO2 trappingmechanisms

10. Technical Perspectives Typical Sandstone 1 cm 2 mm

11. Scale of CO2 sequestration - large footprint, large number of wells, multiple subsurface processes and rates Sleipner 10 MT CO2 in 10 yr Global Target: 10,000 MT CO2/yr

12. Nuclear waste repositories also have large dimensions

13. Unlike CO2, with NW you know exactly where the material is placed underground.... Figure 3. Schematic illustration of the emplacement drift, with cutaway views of different waste packages for Yucca Mountain design concept (from DOE, 2002b).

14. Technical Perspectives But it needs to be contained for a very long time

15. Interesting chemistry starts at the waste package and extends out into the surrounding rock formations The combination of elevated temperature, high radiation levels, different engineered and natural materials, and the long storage time presents an achievable, but nevertheless challenging simulation and prediction problem. Basic materials properties data, and models of the complex interactions need to continually improve.

16. Other countries are choosing different geologic environments, but face similar challenges in evaluating long-term performance Swedish concept for a deep geologic repository (Lundqvist, 2006).

17. Workshop structure - 5 panels Multiphase Fluid Transport Chemical Migration Processes Characterization Modeling and Simulation Cross-Cutting and Grand Challenge Science Themes

18. (Material properties & chemical interactions) (Seeing into the Earth) (Predicting performance) Workshop products Grand Challenges 1. Computational thermodynamics of complex fluids and solids 2. Integrated characterization, modeling, and monitoring of geologic systems 3. Simulation of multi-scale systems for ultra-long times Cross cutting issues 1. The microscopic basis of macroscopic complexity Highly reactive subsurface materials and environments Thermodynamics of the solute-to-solid continuum

19. (Material properties & chemical interactions) (Seeing into the Earth) (Predicting performance) Workshop products Grand Challenges 1. Computational thermodynamics of complex fluids and solids 2. Integrated characterization, modeling, and monitoring of geologic systems 3. Simulation of multi-scale systems for ultra-long times Cross cutting issues 1. The microscopic basis of macroscopic complexity Highly reactive subsurface materials and environments Thermodynamics of the solute-to-solid continuum

20. Workshop products Priority Research Directions 1. Mineral-water interface complexity and dynamics 2. Nanoparticulate and colloid physics and chemistry 3. Dynamic imaging of flow and transport 4. Transport properties and in situ characterization of fluid trapping, isolation, and immobilization 5. Fluid-induced rock deformation 6. Biogeochemistry in extreme and perturbed environments

21. Basic Research Needs for Geosciences, February 21-24, 2007 Applied Research Technology Maturation & Deployment Discovery Research Use-inspired Basic Research • Develop and test methods for assessing storage capacity and for monitoring containment of CO2 storage • Develop remediation methods to ensure permanent storage • Demonstrate procedures for characterizing storage reservoirs and seals • Integrated models for waste performance prediction and confirmation • Radionuclide partitioning in repository environments. • Waste form stability and release models. • Incorporate new conceptual models into uncertainty assessments. • Develop site selection criteria • Develop storage and operating engineering approaches • Storage demonstrations • Apply assessment protocols and technologies for the lifecycle of projects • Evaluate release of radionuclide inventory from the repository • Assess corrosion/ alteration of engineered materials • Long-term safety/risk assessment for emplacement of energy system by-products. • Microscopic basis of macroscopic complexity - scaling • Highly reactive subsurface materials and environments • Thermodynamics of the solute-to-solid continuum • Computational geochemistry of complex moving fluids within porous solids • Integrated analysis, modeling and monitoring of geologic systems • Simulation of multi-scale systems for ultra-long times • Mineral-fluid interface complexity and dynamics • Nanoparticulate and colloid chemistry and physics • Dynamic imaging of flow and transport • Transport properties and in situ characterization of fluid trapping, isolation and immobilization • Fluid-induced rock deformation • Biogeochemical in extreme subsurface environments FE, RW, EM, EERE Office of Science

22. Summary The BRN Geosciences workshop and report provide an up-to-date assessment of geoscience research needs for the coming decades The participants are excited by the research possibilities, committed to the technical objectives, and enthusiastic about the workshop aims The research described involves and depends on continued advances in theory, materials analysis, and modeling, and hence aligns with fundamental aims of DOE Office of Science Report conclusions are complementary to those of recent reports on the hydrogen economy, advanced nuclear energy systems, advanced computing, alternative fuels, and with the capabilities of major BES research facilities