Annual Report 2007
Energy resources

Procuring of knowledge for continued exploration and exploitation of energy resources in Denmark and Greenland

Opportunities for CO₂ storage in Europe
There is an international desire to reduce CO₂ emission, as described in the Kyoto Protocol, but the goals can be difficult to reach as the world continues to thirst for energy to create growth and wealth. Capture and storage of CO₂ in the underground is one of the methods which can be implemented to limit emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For several years Europe has been focusing on the so-called CCS technology (Carbon Capture & Storage) through many EU-financed international research projects to clarify the possibilities of geological storage of greenhouse gasses. GEUS is participating in several of these projects. These include the GeoCapacity project, which aims at updating and extending the basis for geological storage of greenhouse gasses in Europe, and the DYNAMIS project, which is to pave the way for future European gas or coal power stations producing hydrogen and electricity without CO₂ emission. Geological storage of greenhouse gasses is based on techniques used in extracting oil and natural gas and underground storage of natural gas. In 2007 work included surveys of storage possibilities in deep saline aquifers, empty or almost empty oil- and gasfields, as well as coal-bearing layers. Finally, GEUS is part of the COACH project to transfer competences within geological storage of CO₂ from the EU to China. The storage possibilities in Denmark were addressed in a now completed EU project, and in 2007 GEUS published a report which assesses the possibilities of storing greenhouse gasses in the Havnsø geological structure north-east of Kalundborg, which is near the two large CO₂ point sources at Asnæsværket power plant and the Statoil refinery. Surveys show that the Havnsø structure is probably the most suitable place to store CO₂ in Denmark and perhaps even one of the best places in Europe, and the report recommends a number of initiatives, which should be initiated before making a final decision on whether the structure is suitable for CO₂ storage.

Hunt for geothermal energy
The world's climate problems call for new energy solutions to reduce CO₂ emission to the atmosphere. Heat from the core of the earth in the form of geothermal energy is one of the energy sources available. Geothermal energy is used in many places in Europe, and Denmark uses geothermal energy in installations on the Island of Amager outside Copenhagen and in Thisted in Jutland. Hot water is collected from water-bearing sandstone layers 2-3 kilometres down in the subsurface. For many years, GEUS has worked on developing geological models to describe and predict where there are geological layers in the subsurface with hot water in sufficient amounts and which can be pumped up to the surface. In recent years, GEUS has worked with DONG Energy on interpreting seismic data and data from drillings in order to build geological models of the subsurface under a number of Danish towns. One of these areas is in the densely populated North Zealand, where the geothermal potential is currently being examined. In parallel with this work, preliminary surveys, quality assurance and interpretation have been carried out of new seismic data from Sønderborg, where DONG Energy and Sønderborg Fjernvarme are planning to establish Denmark's third geothermal plant.

Increased oil abstraction using a climate-friendly method
The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation has launched a number of projects combining research-related and business-related challenges with the potential to create new growth industries. One of these projects is to examine the possibilities of increasing oil extraction in the North Sea by pumping CO₂ from power plants down into the oil reservoirs. CO₂ dilutes oil and makes it flow more easily towards the production wells. This solves two key problems at the same time: CO₂ emission to the atmosphere is reduced and oil extraction from existing fields is increased. During 2007, GEUS developed an experimental apparatus in the laboratory to examine how an oilfield will react to CO₂. The project is to work with sample material from chalk formations in the North Sea, and researchers from GEUS have also been busy selecting and describing the sample material to be used in their own laboratory and in laboratories at several of the project partners, which include DONG E&P, DONG Energy Generation, DTU Chemical Engineering, DTU Aqua and Danish Geotechnical Institute GEO.

Great interest in oil exploration in Greenland
In recent years, the oil industry's interest in Greenland has increased, and it peaked during the licensing round in 2006 for offshore areas west of Disko-Nuussuaq in West Greenland. During 2007 and in early 2008, eight new exploration and exploitation licences were issued. Today there are ten oil/gas licences in Greenland, and there are seven companies involved: Cairn Energy PLC, Chevron, DONG Energy, EnCana Corporation, ExxonMobil, Husky Energy and NUNAOIL A/S. In the course of the year, GEUS has advised the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in connection with administration of the many applications for licences, and researchers from the institution have been busy compiling and publishing the oil geological knowledge collected during the most recent research projects in West Greenland. The year 2007 also saw the USGS publish new figures on oil resources in Northeast Greenland in connection with American assessments of the entire Arctic area. The new assessments, some of which are based on cooperation with GEUS, reduced the expected oil/gas resource in relation to a previous assessment from 2000, but at the same time increased the probability. Northeast Greenland is still attractive in relation to hydrocarbons, and GEUS is planning several research projects in this area for 2008 and onwards.

The Continental Shelf Project – underpinning possible national claims
As a project manager of the Danish Continental Shelf Project, since 2003 GEUS has been busy surveying the continental shelf in five areas off the coast of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, where it is deemed that there may be claims to extend the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Any resources under on the seabed will be assigned to the coastal state. The five areas involved comprise one area in the Arctic Ocean, two off Northeast Greenland and South Greenland and two areas northeast and southwest of the Faroe Islands. In 2007 the seabed was surveyed in the area southwest of the Faroe Islands, but the largest activity took place during the LOMROG expedition in the Arctic Ocean. Here, researchers surveyed the seabed and acquired seismic data and gravity data under very difficult ice conditions. The activities were carried out with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat using the Swedish ice-breaker, Oden, as a platform and with the powerful Russian ice-breaker, 50 let Pobedy, as an auxiliary vessel during difficult parts of the expedition. In parallel with the current data acquisition, researchers have been busy processing and interpreting data from previous years' data acquisition. During 2007 interpretation of the data acquired in 2006 from the sea ice north of Greenland was completed, as well as interpretation of data from the area off Northeast Greenland. The Continental Shelf Project is being financed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation with contributions from the Faroese government and the work is done in a cooperation between GEUS and other institutions from Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.