Induced Seismicity and Energy Technologies - Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies - page 12

underground formations are being investigated for permanent CO 2 storage: (1) oil and gas
reservoirs, (2) saline formations, (3) unmineable coal seams, (4) organic-rich shales, and
(5) basalt formations. 11 Carbon dioxide has been injected into oil and gas reservoirs for sev-
eral decades to enhance oil recovery. Current large-scale CCS projects in the United States
are focused on injection of carbon dioxide into saline brines in regional aquifers. Carbon
dioxide must be in the supercritical (liquid) phase to minimize the required underground
storage volume; this requires a fluid pressure of greater than 6.9 MPa (about 68 atm 12 )
and temperature greater than 31.1°C, which can be achieved at depths greater than about
2,600 feet (~800 meters) (Sminchak et al., 2001). Because no large-scale CCS projects
have been completed in the United States, no data or reports on induced seismic activity
are available. Chapter 3 reviews in more detail the CCS research and development projects
ongoing in the United States, as well as three small, commercial CCS projects overseas.
HISTORICAL INDUCED SEISMICITY RELATED TO ENERGY ACTIVITIES
In the United States, seismicity caused by or likely related to energy development activ-
ities involving fluid injection or withdrawal has been documented in Alabama, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico,
Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas (see Chapters 2 and 3 for details). Appendix C lists docu-
mented and suspected cases globally and in the United States of induced seismicity, includ-
ing, for example, seismic events caused by waste injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal
(Healy et al., 1968; Hsieh and Bredehoeft, 1981; Box 1.1) and in the Paradox Basin of
western Colorado (see Appendix K); secondary recovery of oil in Colorado (Raleigh et al.,
1972), southern Nebraska (Rothe and Lui, 1983), western Texas (Davis, 1985; Davis and
Pennington, 1989), and western Alberta (Milne, 1970) and southwestern Ontario, Canada
(Mereu et al., 1986); and fluid stimulation to enhance geothermal energy extraction in New
Mexico (Pearson, 1981), at The Geysers, California (see Box 3.1), and in Basel, Switzerland
(see Box 3.3). Suckale (2010) provides a thorough overview of seismicity induced by hydro-
carbon production. Investigations of some of these cases have led to better understanding
of the probable physical mechanisms of inducing seismic events and have allowed for the
establishment of some of the most important criteria that may induce a felt seismic event,
including the state of stress in the Earth's crust in the vicinity of the fluid injection or
withdrawal; the presence, orientation, and physical properties of nearby faults; pore fluid
pressure (pressure of fluids in the pores of the rocks at depth, hereafter referred to as pore
pressure); the volumes, rates, and temperature of fluid being injected or withdrawn; the
pressure at which the fluid is being injected; and the length of time over which the fluid is
11 See, for example, http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/FAQs/carbonstorage2.html.
12 One unit of atmospheric pressure or 1 atm is equivalent to the pressure exerted by the Earth's atmosphere on a point
at sea level.