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Research project

Quantifying and Monitoring Potential Ecosystem Impacts of Geological Carbon Storage (QICS)

Project overview

QICS (Quantifying and monitoring environmental impacts of geological carbon storage) was a program funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with support from the Scottish Government (May 2010 - December 2014) with two objectives. Firstly, to assess if any significant environmental impact would arise, if a leak from sub-sea, deep geological storage of carbon dioxide occurred. Secondly, to test and recommend tools and strategies for monitoring for (or assuring the absence of) leakage at the sea floor and in overlying waters.

The project included a world first leakage simulation in the natural environment. (Taylor et al., 2015. A novel sub-seabed CO2 release experiment informing monitoring and impact assessment for geological carbon storage. Int J Greenhouse Gas Control. DOI:10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.09.007)

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Chris Hauton PhD, FRSB, FMBA

Head of School

Research interests

  • Hauton has worked extensively with colleagues in India and Bangladesh since 2015 and has developed an international profile in shrimp health research, including contributing to the development of a mobile phone app, the 'Chingri Shrimp App', to support shrimp farmer training in Bangladesh.
  • Research has also included quantifying the potential toxic risk of deep sea mining of mineral resources. He was part of the leading team of the EC FP7 MIDAS Project, exploring the ecological risk of deep-sea mining, outputs from which led to contributions to the Royal Society Foresight Future of the Sea report (2016/17), to presentations at the UN International Seabed Authority in Jamaica, and expert contributions to the UN ISA ISA Legal and Technical Commision ISBA/27/C/11 'Guidelines for the establishment of baseline environmental data.'
  • Other activity
Connect with Chris

Email: [email protected]

Research outputs

Developments since 2005 in understanding potential environmental impacts of CO2 leakage from geological storage
D.G. Jones, S.E. Beaubien, J.C. Blackford, E.M. Foekema, J. Lions, C. De Vittor, J.M. West, S. Widdicombe, C. Hauton & A.M. Queirós, 2015, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 40, 350-377
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.05.032
Type: article
A novel sub-seabed CO2 release experiment informing monitoring and impact assessment for geological carbon storage
Peter Taylor, Henrik Stahl, Mark E. Vardy, Jonathan M. Bull, Maxine Akhurst, Chris Hauton, Rachel H. James, Anna Lichtschlag, Dave Long, Dmitry Aleynik, Matthew Toberman, Mark Naylor, Douglas Connelly, Dave Smith, Martin D.J. Sayer, Steve Widdicombe, Ian C. Wright & Jerry Blackford, 2015, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 3-17
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.09.007
Type: article
Marine baseline and monitoring strategies for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS)
Jerry Blackford, Jonathan M. Bull, Melis Cevatoglu, Douglas Connelly, Chris Hauton, Rachael H. James, Anna Lichtschlag, Henrik Stahl, Steve Widdicombe & Ian C. Wright, 2015, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 221-229
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.10.004
Type: article
No evidence for impacts to the molecular ecophysiology of ion or CO2 regulation in tissues of selected surface-dwelling bivalves in the vicinity of a sub-seabed CO2 release
Nicola Pratt, Benjamin J. Ciotti, Elizabeth A. Morgan, Peter Taylor, Henrik Stahl & Chris Hauton, 2015, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 38, 193-201
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.10.001
Type: article
Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage
Jerry Blackford, Henrik Stahl, Jonathan M. Bull, Benoît J.P. Bergès, Melis Cevatoglu, Anna Lichtschlag, Douglas Connelly, Rachael H. James, Jun Kita, Dave Long, Mark Naylor, Kiminori Shitashima, Dave Smith, Peter Taylor, Ian Wright, Maxine Akhurst, Baixin Chen, Tom M. Gernon, Chris Hauton, Masatoshi Hayashi, Hideshi Kaieda, Timothy G. Leighton, Toru Sato, Martin D.J. Sayer, Masahiro Suzumura, Karen Tait, Mark E. Vardy, Paul R. White & Steve Widdicombe, 2014, Nature Climate Change, 4, 1011-1016
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2381
Type: article