Annual report 2008
Energy resources

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

CO₂ storage in Europe
Capture and storage of CO₂ underground is one of the meth - ods which can be used to limit emissions of the greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. For several years now, Europe has been focusing on CCS technology (Carbon Capture & Storage) in many EU-funded, international research projects. One of these projects is GeoCapacity, which is headed by GEUS. The project was concluded in 2008 and it has estab - lished a solid foundation for assessing CCS as a method of reducing CO₂ emissions for all of Europe. The results include development of a standard for the assessment of the storage capacity of underground reservoirs as well as well as a GIS database of large CO₂ sources and storage sites in 25 Euro - pean countries. The database includes information about CO₂emissions from industry and power plants and infrastructure such as pipelines. Potential geological storage sites are also found here. The results in the database have already been used in connection with preparation of the proposed EU directive on geological storage of CO₂. Like another EU project in which GEUS is also taking part (COACH), GeoCa pacity has worked on transferring competences within geological storage of CO₂ from the EU to China. Knowledge from the research projects will be brought into play in international fora in which GEUS is represented. One of these is CO₂Geo Net, a European Network of Excellence which aims at enhancing Europe's scientific and technological position within CO₂ storage by bringing together resources and expertise. At the end of 2008, the network published the brochure What does CO₂geological storage really mean? In the brochure the reader will find answers to questions such as: how does the method work, where is it possible to store the greenhouse gas and how safe is the method? The aim of the brochure is to communicate clear and impartial scientific information to a wide public and to inspire dialogue on important issues related to the technical aspects of the method.

Lots of geothermal energy
Global climate problems call for new energy solutions which can reduce emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Heat from inside the Earth in the form of geothermal energy is one of the energy sources available. In Denmark, geothermal energy is exploited at plants on the island of Amager and in Thisted. Hot water is drawn up from water-bearing sandstone layers 1-3 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 2008 this work included assessments of four reservoirs in eastern Sealand on behalf of Hovedstadsområdets Geotermiske Samarbejde (HGS). In early 2009 HGS published a new assessment showing that the geothermal reserves in eastern Sealand can satisfy 30-50 per cent of the Greater Copenhagen district heating requirement for several thousand years. The many years of survey work by GEUS has revealed that Denmark has many deep sand layers bearing hot water. In 2009 the Danish Energy Agency and GEUS will prepare a report on the extent of geothermal reservoirs as well as the opportunities and limitations of geothermics in all of Denmark.

New surveys of the oil geology in North-East Greenland
Recent years have seen growing interest from the oil industry in the high Arctic areas, and in 2007 the USGS published new figures for oil resources in North-East Greenland in connection with the American assessments of the entire Arctic area. The new assessments, which are based on cooperation with GEUS, show that the shelf areas in North-East Greenland have great interest in a hydrocarbon context. The geology of the offshore area has been poorly surveyed, partly because of the difficult conditions, and in 2008 GEUS launched a longterm programme to survey the analogous geological formations on shore in North-East Greenland in order to update and extend understanding of the oil-geological potential of the area. The projects have been part-funded by the oil industry and they will gather existing data in a GIS format as well as acquire new data. In 2008, drilling was carried out at Jameson Land in order to investigate one of the most important types of source rock in the North Atlantic. Stratigraphic and sedimentological surveys of other rock units in a larger area along the coast were also carried out. Finally, geologists have collected information about the uplift history of the onshore areas, and a comprehensive aerial photography campaign has secured a good foundation for later mapping of geol ogical coastal profiles over a large area. The results of the project will help ripen North-East Greenland over the next few years for possible licensing rounds currently on the drawing board at the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in Nuuk.

D.Sc. in oil-forming coals
The majority of the oil produced around the world has been formed by algae in rocks deposited in the sea. Coal is formed from plants on land which first settle in bogs and then become turf. The chemical composition of this plant material has historically led researchers to believe that coal is a source of gas rather than oil. New research results in a doctoral thesis, defended by Henrik Ingermann Petersen from GEUS at the end of November 2008, contest this belief and show that the age of the coal is extremely significant for its ability to generate oil. His research shows that, due to the differences in the chemical composition of the coal, the oldest coal from the Carboniferous Period primarily forms gas, while the youngest coal from the late Cretaceous Period and from the Tertiary Period can form both oil and gas. The results will have a great impact on exploration for new oil deposits, and the oil industry has already shown interest in the new research. There is a suspicion that the oil in some oilfields in the North Sea originates from coal, and soon after the results were published, GEUS was appproached by an oil company which wanted to know if oil-forming coal could be expected to be found in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

Progress in the Continental Shelf Project
In 2005, Denmark ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which opens for opportunities to claim subterranean and seabed resources outside the 200 nautical mile limit. A requirement for any claims is that there is a natural extension of the onshore area exceeding 200 nautical miles. Any claims have to be documented, primarily with information about sea depths and seismic data. Since 2004, GEUS has been busy acquiring and interpreting data from the five areas in question. These are one area in the Arctic Ocean, two off North-East Greenland and southern Greenland, and two areas north-east and south-west of the Faeroe Islands. In May and June, seismic data were acquired from the area southwest of the Faeroe Islands and in June and July the final seismic data and information on the depth of the seabed were collected in the area north-east of the Faeroe Islands. Interpretation of data from this area was completed in 2008, and the final documents for submission to the UN in support of claims to the area will be completed in early 2009. Information was collected about the depth of the seabed off southern Greenland, and the assessment of the LOMROG project was completed, which acquired data in the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland in 2007. On the basis of this evaluation, it was decided to plan a new data-acquisition cruise in 2009, with the icebreaker Oden as the platform. The Continental Shelf Project is being funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development, with contributions from the Faeroese government, and work is being carried out as a collaboration between GEUS and other institutions from Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland.