Two Geophysics professors are lead participants in an $11.1 million CarbonSafe project, which will evaluate an underground carbon storage reservoir in Sacramento Basin, California.
Dr. Yanrui Daisy Ning serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) for this project, leading efforts at Mines in project management, fluid flow simulation, and risk assessment. Prof. Ali Tura, serving as co-PI, oversees site characterization, leveraging his expertise in exploration geophysics and decades of experience in DOE-funded CCUS projects.
The Department of Energy is funding $8.9 million of the project and California Resources Corporation (CRC) will fund $2.2 million. Additional partners include Blade Energy Partners, and Providence Strategic Consulting. The project aims to sequester up to 71 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions, providing a long-term solution to mitigate global warming and contribute to sustainable human development.
The Mines team includes three additional researchers:
- A Master’s student, under Prof. Tura’s guidance, will create mechanistic static models based on seismic, well logs, core data obtained from field.
- A PhD student, supervised by Dr. Ning, will develop dynamic models to track CO₂ plume migration over time, incorporating fluid flow and geomechanics.
- A postdoctoral researcher, working with Dr. Ning, will assess potential leakage risks within the CO₂ plume footprint and design mitigation strategies.