EPFL will host 13th Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an important component of the European Union’s policies and strategies for mitigating climate change, and has the potential to make an important contribution to Europe’s efforts to substantially decarbonize its electricity system and to achieve targets of greenhouse gas reduction. However, at present the economics of CCS are not viable and strong policy actions are needed urgently if the key next steps, in particular CCS demonstration plants and the first generation of commercial facilities, are to be realized.

Switzerland, in particular has several point sources of industrial CO2 emissions, including oil refineries and cement factories, which could be amenable to disposal via geological sequestration. Also, combined-cycle gas-fired power plants are under discussion as a temporary solution to over the energy gap that will arise when the oldest nuclear power plant is decommissioned in 2020. Even in a full hydrogen-based economy, CCS would be mandatory for any large concentrated CO2 emitters in the industrial and energy sectors. Recently, the Swiss Competence Center on Supply of Electricity (SCCER-SoE) was established to develop fundamental research and innovative solutions in the domains of Deep Geothermal Energy and CO2 sequestration. SCCER-SoE is focused on sustainable competence expansion, by establishing new professorships and research positions, building new technology platforms, laboratories and testing facilities, working with industry to design and implement Pilot and Demonstration programs, enabling the testing and installation of future technologies.

In the recent years, CCS community worldwide shows an increasing interest in deep carbon dioxide sequestration. At GHGT-12 held in Austin, TX, USA in October 2014, almost 400 papers were related to the developments in CO2 geological storage. A lot of them dealt with geomechanics of the problem and flow of supercritical liquid in porous media from microscale to field scale applications. Experimental, analytical, and numerical modeling aspects of the CO2 storage are of particular interest.

Laboratory for Soil Mechanics (LMS) at the EPFL has the strong scientific background in topics such as renewable energy, environmental protection, and greenhouse gas control technologies. Since its establishment in 1935, LMS has been contributing to fundamental and applied research activities following the major trends of the global development. The experimental and modelling resources are focused on understanding and predicting the environmental impact of future technologies in various sectors such as civil engineering and oil industry. The main goal of the research activities performed at LMS is to permanently transfer the scientific and technological developments to education and industry, thus, contributing to sustainable evolution of the society.

The 13th Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT) that will be organized at the EPFL is a perfect opportunity for the LMS to promote its innovative concepts related to greenhouse gas control and renewable energy technologies. We are hoping that hosting such a big event in Switzerland will help to enhance the participation of researchers and industrial partners from Europe and Middle East and will have a decisive impact on CCS in this regions and worldwide.

Dr. Roman Makhnenko and Prof. Lyesse Laloui
Laboratory of soil mechanics, geo-engineering and CO2 storage,
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland