On April 10, Berkeley Lab and France’s Geological Survey, BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), signed a Memorandum of Understanding representing their intent to expand a collaborative partnership. The French geological survey is one of Berkeley Lab’s key European counterparts in working to address the need to protect and sustain Earth’s energy and environmental…
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Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have released the latest version of TOUGH (Transport Of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat), a suite of software codes used worldwide to simulate nonisothermal multiphase flow and transport in fractured and porous media. TOUGH3 builds on the impressive legacy of its TOUGH predecessors, which…
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In February EESA Staff Scientist Tim Kneafsey helped escort leadership from the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on a journey 4,850 feet below the ground. They toured Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), an old South Dakota gold mine turned testing ground for studying how the process of extracting heat from rocks…
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New research from the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab shows that carbon dioxide can penetrate the inner layers of some non-swelling clay minerals which make up the dominant clays in the Earth's deep subsurface. Results of the work performed at the Center for Nanoscale Controls on Geologic CO2 (NCGC) and the national lab’s Molecular Foundry could help inform practices intended to help limit carbon dioxide emissions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
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Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab are part of a research team led by Texas A&M University that is working to develop a new field laboratory in the hydrocarbon-producing geological formation known as Eagle Ford Shale. Their work is focused on increased recovery from previously fractured wells that were left behind because of low production, and has the potential to foster continued growth in U.S. oil production, but with a much lower environmental footprint.
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Research scientist Haruko Wainwright has been selected to lead a new initiative named “Environmental Resilience” within the Energy Geosciences Division.
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Mack Kennedy received the Geothermal Special Achievement Award from the Geothermal Resource Council, one of the world’s preeminent geothermal associations, during its 41st Annual Meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kennedy was recognized for his outstanding contributions and dedication to developing the science and engineering needed for enhanced geothermal systems.
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By the time Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists Barry Freifeld and Curt Oldenburg visited the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in December 2015, the SS-25 well blowout had been leaking natural gas into the air for more than six weeks. The notoriously strong winds at Aliso Canyon carried the natural gas and its…
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UC Berkeley Center for Japanese Studies and the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area at Berkeley Lab hosted a public event regarding the recovery and future in the Fukushima region after the nuclear accident. The event was held on Monday, October 30 at the David Brower Center on UC Berkeley’s campus. Research scientist Haruko Wainwright of EESA’s Climate Sciences…
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The Energy Geosciences Division of Berkeley Lab has just released the Fifth Worldwide Review on International Approaches for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Geological Formations: Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation. This book summarizes state-of-the-art radioactive waste disposal approaches in geological formations, with contributions from authors representing 23 countries. Since the Fourth Worldwide Review in 2006, advances in technologies, disposal…
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