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Upcoming Events

Save the Date!!
2012 MGSC Annual Meeting and Workshop
September 17–19, 2012

I Hotel and Conference Center
1900 South First Street
Champaign, IL 61820

The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium Annual Meeting and Workshop are scheduled for September 17–19, 2012, at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. Once again, we are expanding the meeting and allowing open registration. Agenda will include a full day of Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (IBDP) research presentations covering all aspects of the MGSC Phase III research activities, a STEP-sponsored workshop, and an optional tour of the IBDP site. Full meeting details will be distributed in June with registration opening in early in July.

We would look forward to your attendance, so please mark your calendars!!

Previous Events

STEP Special Guest Lecturer Series
Dr. Terry Engelder, Professor of Geosciences, Penn State University, gave a series of presentations on organic black shales on February 17, 2012. These presenations provided a detailed overview of their uses as reservoirs and seals; the porosity and pore types in gas shales; the sedimentology of Marcellus mineralogy and grain rock density; and fractures in the Marcellus.

STEP Launches Special Guest Lecturer Series
Dr. Matthias Raab, Program Manager Geological Carbon Storage, CO2CRC, Australia was a guest lecturer at the Illinois State Geological Survey on Friday, January 13, 2012. This knowledge sharing presentation provided an overview of the CO2CRC Otway Project, Australia's first demonstration of deep geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The presentation provided insights into the Otway Stage 2 saline aquifer field experiments and also provides context for commercial scale storage operations, examining how the drilling (Stage 2A), residual saturation test (Stage 2B), and limited volume injection (Stage 2C) can serve as a blueprint for commercial scale site development activities.

STEP sponsors Class VI Workshop
STEP hosted a Class VI Workshop for Project Developers, November 7, 2011, Champaign, Illinois. Presented at the Midwest Carbon Sequestration Science Conference, this course was developed to introduce and educate project developers, industry leaders, and regulators to the newly developed Underground Injection Control Class VI regulations specific to permitting wells for geologic storage of carbon dioxide. The course focused on the educational needs of the project developers with specific attention paid to gaining greater understanding of the new regulations, geologic and engineering technical challenges, and permit application development. In addition, a review of guidance documents was provided. Other topics included the current state of knowledge about tools used for gaining geologic knowledge of the subsurface and creating models for area review.

Illinois Teachers Investigate Climate Change
STEP partnered with The Keystone Center to bring an interdisciplinary middle school and high school curricula on climate change to Decatur, Illinois, September 29-30, 2011. CSI: Climate Status Investigation provides teachers with the skills and confidence to investigate the issue of global climate change with their students. This program is designed to explore the issues of global climate change through an exploration of various economic, environmental, and social factors. The course focused on interactive projects and experiments for teachers to take back to the classroom.

IEAGHG Summer School arrives in Champaign, Illinois
STEP successfully hosted the 2011 IEAGHG International CCS Summer School Programme, July 17-23, 2011, in Champaign, Illinois. Fifty-three students from twenty-six countries participated in this week long program which covered every aspect of CCS and presented up-to-date information on sources of CO₂; capture of CO₂; transportation of CO₂; underground geological storage; safety; costs and economic potential of CCS; regulatory issues as well as other topics. Also included was a visit, sponsored by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities, to the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium's Illinois Basin – Decatur Project for a project overview.

Evaluating Reservoir Quality, Seal Potential and Net Pay, July 14-15, 2011, Champaign, IL
This STEP sponsored course demonstrated the use of basic rock properties, wireline logs, capillary pressure and relative permeability data to evaluate reservoir rock quality, seal capacity (thickness of hydrocarbon or CO₂ column a seal can hold before it leaks), recovery efficiency and to determine location of reservoir fluid contacts. It also explained the main controls on fault seals, and methods used in evaluating these. Participants explored the details of working with data in several practical exercises. The 2-day course was a workshop format and was designed for geologists, reservoir engineers, students and managers involved in hydrocarbon exploration, development or CO₂ sequestration.

Development of a Saline Reservoir Carbon Sequestration Project, May 16, 2011, Webinar
STEP has partnered with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) to jointly sponsor a webinar on the development of a saline reservoir sequestration project. Robert Finley, Director of the Advanced Energy Technology Initiative at the Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois discussed the Illinois Basin - Decatur Project (IBDP). Complete program details and registration information is available at: http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/spe/upcoming.php