Climate science may have picked up some new recruits as college students and early career scientists from across the country converged on Northern New Mexico earlier this summer to learn more about the emerging field of carbon sequestration. The students participated in the Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS) program hosted by the Laboratory and the Department of Energy’s Fossil Energy program.
The program is designed to align with the core elements of the DOE’s carbon sequestration efforts. The program was co-hosted by EnTech Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based carbon sequestration consulting firm, at the College of Santa Fe with field work at KinderMorgan CO2’s SACROC site, an enhanced oil recovery operation in Snyder, Texas.
According to Julianna Fessenden of Hydrology, Geochemistry and Geology (EES-6), RRES co-director, "RECS is a first-of-its kind summer research program for undergraduates, graduates and early career professionals interested in technologies, theory, economics and novel approaches to capturing CO2 in geological settings.”
“The program offers a unique opportunity,” adds RECS co-director Pamela Tomski from EnTech Strategies. “At RECS, experts from academia, industry and government laboratories will present information on carbon dioxide separation, capture, long-term storage, monitoring and mitigation,” she said.
RECS was organized by the Laboratory’s Office of Energy and Environment Initiatives (OEEI) in coordination with the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP). OEEI is a Strategic Research Directorate (ADSR) program office tasked with supporting and promoting the Laboratory's energy and environment thrust areas. IGPP promotes and supports new research ideas, which can be further developed through seed funding into major programs supported by federal or other funding sources.
According to OEEI’s Melissa Miller, RECS principal investigator, “Evidence suggests atmospheric CO2 levels have increased dramatically due to expanded use of fossil fuels and that those levels will continue to increase over the next century. Unless major changes are made in the way we produce and use energy - and particularly, how we manage carbon dioxide - we could encounter significant environmental problems.”
The RECS program is a follow-up to last year’s United States - Norway program on carbon capture and geologic storage, which was a collaborative effort between the National Energy Technology Laboratory, DOE's Office of Clean Energy Collaboration and the Norwegian Research Council. The 10-day program was held in Santa Fe for 20 graduate and early career professionals from the U.S. and Norway.
