COSMA – Quantifying the Risks from Subsurface Activities from the Perspective of Groundwater Protection

Subsurface carbon storage technologies, geothermal energy production methods and the exploration of inaccessible natural gas deposits by means of specific deep drilling technologies like “hydraulic fracturing” can have a strong impact on the regional groundwater quality. No systematic study allowing for an assessment of possible risks for the groundwater quality has been carried out so far.

 

The COSMA project aims at supporting operators in identifying possible impacts on the drinking water supply arising from such emerging subsurface activities. During the recently launched first phase of the project involving the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ, www.co2ketzin.de/9) and Freie Universität Berlin, a literature review on the current state of the art will be conducted. In addition, a quantitative approach to risk assessment is supposed to be developed on the basis of past experience from research and practical implementation, merging experience from research on CCS operation with water suppliers’ experience in the field of groundwater research. The North-Eastern German sedimentary basin where deep saline aquifers are being used for gas storage purposes will be taken as a case study. The project is sponsored by Veolia.