Sharing and recycling shale mechanical data to enable gigaton CO2 storage

Storing CO2 underground is emerging as a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this underground storage, shale rock plays a critical role; it acts as a protective cap that seals off the stored CO2, keeping it securely contained. But how can we trust this cap? To address this, understanding the mechanics of shale under pressurized conditions is crucial; it is the key to ensuring the integrity of this protective layer. The RecyclShale project aims to create a shared, comprehensive understanding of shale mechanics by maximizing the use of existing data. Instead of conducting new expensive and time-consuming standard tests, RecyclShale suggests a cost-efficient alternative: compiling existing data and recycling small cores and outcrops. RecyclShale will compile existing shale mechanical datasets in collaboration with Norwegian operators and participating institutes, improve the understanding of factors affecting mechanical shale properties by integrating mineralogical information, and apply supplementary information from innovative small sample tests which can recycle small samples. The project will provide a practical correlation and tools to estimate site-specific shale information. Through this smart reuse of materials and data, RecyclShale aims to contribute to making large-scale CO2 storage projects more accessible and affordable. This work will directly contribute to Norway's ambitious goals for gigaton CO2 storage and global efforts to mitigate climate change.

RecyclShale aims to improve mechanical integrity assessment of shale formation by providing enhanced approaches to maximize the utilization of shale mechanical data and regional correlations to accelerate maturation of new sites. This will close the gap related to the lack of information on geomechanical safety assessment and assist in the screening process of seal integrity during up-scaling injection in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The project has a scientific ambition to 1) maximize the use of existing shale mechanical data, 2) optimize under-utilized data and knowledge from past projects by novel testing strategy, 3) explain the regional discrepancy in shale mechanical data, and 4) disseminate the knowledge as a publicly available database and knowledge to answer societal responsibility and to contribute to generating new opportunities. To acieve the scientific ambition, the project addresses a systematic interdisciplinary approach, including 1) compiling shale mechanical datasets utilizing unexploited data together with Norwegian operators, 2) experimental works on creep/fracture self-sealing, closing knowledge gaps and recycling available core material, 3) developing statistically-based tools with data-driven approaches and regional mapping to support the rapid growth in CO2 storage projects, and 4) field applications to CO2 licensed areas on the NCS to improve assessment of seal integrity in ongoing projects. The project team, including two major geomechanical laboratories in Norway (NGI and SINTEF), the most extensive shale core storage in Norway (UNIS), and major operators of CO2 storage licenses in the NCS has the unique possibility of sharing geomechanical shale data to advance safety assessment for gigaton CO2 storage. The project will thus provide new opportunities for future field developments for storage of Gt CO2 and answer social responsibility by generating a publicly accessible dataset.