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Curtis M. Oldenburg

Senior Scientist

Rehired Retiree

Building 074, Room 0313

M/S 74R316C

cmoldenburg@lbl.gov

Curriculum Vitae

  • Education
  • Experience
  • Patents
  • Awards
  • Boards & Committees
  • Scholarly Service
  • Teaching
  • Invited Talks

Biography

Curtis Oldenburg is a Senior Scientist and Editor in Chief of Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology. Curt’s area of expertise is numerical model development and applications for coupled subsurface flow and transport processes. He has worked in geothermal reservoir modeling, vadose zone hydrology, and compressed gas energy storage. Curt’s focus for the last twenty years has been on geologic carbon sequestration with emphasis on CO2 injection for enhanced gas recovery, and near-surface leakage and seepage including monitoring, detection, and risk-based frameworks for site selection and certification. Curt Oldenburg is a co-author of the textbook entitled Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Curt officially retired July 1, 2021, but works part time as a rehired retiree.

Research Interests

  • Geologic Carbon Sequestration, such as Injection of CO2 for carbon sequestration and enhanced gas recovery (CSEGR) and Near-surface leakage and seepage of CO2
  • Risk assessment for geologic carbon sequestration and other subsurface energy systems
  • Dynamic behavior of subsurface systems where convection or gravity-driven flow processes occur (e.g., gas reservoirs, magmatic and geothermal systems, saturated and vadose zone hydrology, ferrofluid flow)
  • Geothermal systems, heat and mass transfer in geologic systems
  • Subsurface energy storage (e.g., porous media compressed air energy storage (PM-CAES, , hydrogen storage) and related advanced concepts)
  • Bulk energy storage (pdf)
  • Code development and applications: TOUGH, TOUGH Flyer, WebGas EOS

Education

  • Ph.D. in Geology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1985-1989
  • Ph.D. program in Geology, Princeton University (Transferred with advisor to U.C. Santa Barbara, fall 1985), 1984-1985
  • A.B. in Geology, University of California, Berkeley, 1979-1983

Experience

  • Rehired Retiree, LBNL, 2021-Present
  • Geological Senior Scientist, LBNL, 2013-2021
  • Energy Resources Program Domain Lead, LBNL, 2015-2019
  • Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program Lead, LBNL, 2008-2021
  • Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program Deputy Lead, LBNL, 2007-2008
  • Hydrogeology Department Head, LBNL, 2002-2006
  • Staff Geological Scientist, LBNL, 1994-2013
  • Geological Scientist, LBNL, 1992-1994
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, LBNL, 1990-1992
  • Post-Doctoral Researcher, U.C. Santa Barbara, 1989-1990
  • Research Assistant, U.C. Santa Barbara, 1986-1989
  • Teaching Assistant, U.C. Santa Barbara, 1985-1986
  • Assistant in Instruction, Princeton University, 1985
  • Assistant in Research, Princeton University, 1984
  • Assistant Field Geologist, Chevron Resources, 1984

Patents

  • Process for guidance, containment, treatment, and imaging in a subsurface environment utilizing ferrofluids, U.S. June 26, 2001. Inventors: G.J. Moridis and C.M. Oldenburg., Patent No. 6,250,848 B1
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) as cushion gas for compressed air energy storage (CAES), Inventor: C.M. Oldenburg, U.S. Patent application only

Awards

  • R&D 100 Award to the 56 developers of the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) project’s computational tools for assessing and managing risk of geologic carbon sequestration, 2017
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2016 Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement (for Societal Impact related to work at the Aliso Canyon natural gas blowout with colleagues Barry Freifeld, Preston Jordan, and Lehua Pan), 2016
  • 2012 Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Water Resources Research, 2013
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2012 Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement (for Tech Transfer related to the TOUGH codes), 2012
  • DOE Secretary’s Achievement Award 2011 for Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Flow Rate Technical Group work, 2011
  • Geothermal Resources Council, Best paper award to Rutqvist, Oldenburg, Dobson, Garcia, and Walters, for “The northwest Geysers EGS demonstration project Phase 1: Pre-stimulation prediction coupled geomechanical modeling to guide stimulation and monitoring plans, 2010 GRC Annual Meeting, Sacramento, CA, 2010
  • USGS Director’s Award for Exemplary Service to the Nation, 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response, 2010
  • Global Citizens Group Award at UN East Bay banquet on 10/24/08 at I-House. Honored for contribution to IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, 2008
  • Nobel Peace Prize 2007, IPCC shared with Al Gore, Jr., Contributing Author of the IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, 2007

Advisory Boards, Committees, and Councils

  • Energy Geosciences/Earth Sciences Division Professional Staff Committee, LBNL, 2014-2021
  • Staff Committee, LBNL, 2014-Present
  • Conference Advisor, Annual Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011-2018
  • Center for Nanoscale Control of Geologic Carbon (NCGC) Advisory Committee, Energy Geosciences/Earth Sciences Division, LBNL, 2011-2018
  • Carbon Cycle 2.0 Steering Committee, LBNL, 2011-2015
  • TOUGH Steering Committee, Energy Geosciences/Earth Sciences Division, LBNL, 2011-Present
  • Advisory Board, ULTimateCO2 Project, “Understanding the Long-Term fate of geologically stored CO2,” BRGM, France, 2011-2013
  • Faculty Affiliate, Energy Resources Group, U.C. Berkeley, 2010-2021
  • Panel Member, Job Hunting at National Labs, LBNL, 2012
  • Expert Review Panel, GHGT-11, Kyoto, Japan, 2012
  • Materials for Energy Applications (MEA) workshop, Claremont Hotel [led development of two posters on CCS research conducted at eight National Laboratories], LBNL, 2012
  • Co-Chair, Organizing Committee (with Hui-Hai Liu), Philmathia Forum on Energy and Environment, Berkeley-Stanford-Beijing Workshop on CCS, held in Beijing, China, 2009
  • Member, Organizing Committee, TOUGH Symposium, 2006, 2012
  • Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC), ESD representative, LBNL, 2006-2009

Scholarly Service

  • Editor in Chief, Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology (Wiley-Blackwell), 2010-Present
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue on Geologic Carbon Sequestration, six papers, Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, 2013
  • Guest Editor, Transport in Porous Media Special Issue on Geologic Carbon Sequestration, 52(1), 2010
  • Co-Guest Editor, Energy Conversion and Management Special Issue on TOUGH2 Applications in CO2 Storage and CH4-Hydrate Research, 48(6), 2007
  • Associate Editor, Carbon Dioxide Capture for Storage in Deep Geologic Formations, Vol. 2, D.C. Thomas and S.M. Benson, eds., pp 1205–1216, Elsevier, 2005
  • Co-Guest Editor, Vadose Zone Journal Special Issue on TOUGH2 Applications in Hydrology,Vadose Zone Journal, 3(3), August, 2004
  • Guest Editor, Transport in Porous Media Special Issue on Strongly Coupled Density-Dependent Flow in Porous Media (Transport in Porous Media), 2002

Teaching

  • U.C. Berkeley, Guest Lecturer, Sustainable Energy ChE90, two lectures annually 2015 to present
  • U.C. Berkeley, Co-taught The Berkeley Lectures on Energy: Carbon Capture and Storage (Chm Eng C295Z), Fall 2011, Spring 2013 - Spring 2017
  • Haas Professional School, geologic carbon sequestration, one lecture annually 2007-2016
  • Haas School of Business class on Energy and Sustainability, one lecture, April 21, 2009

Invited Talks

  • Oldenburg, C.M., Mechanistic modeling of CO2 leakage into the water column from off-shore CO2 wells or pipelines, GeoScience and GeoEnergy Webinar Series, October 8, 2020.
  • Oldenburg, C.M., Mechanistic modeling of CO2 leakage into the water column from off-shore CO2 wells or pipelines, Water Resources, Environmental, and Coastal Engineering Division, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, March 23, 2020 (via Zoom).
  • Oldenburg, C.M., Mechanistic modeling of CO2 leakage into the water column from off-shore CO2 wells or pipelines, Stanford’s Center for Carbon Storage, Stanford University, November 12, 2019.
  • American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, Energy and Fuels Division, session on Subsurface Technologies for Recovery of Fossil and Geothermal Energy, April 2-6, 2017, San Francisco, CA. “TOGA: Compositional simulation of three-phase, multi-component, and non-isothermal processes for carbon dioxide utilization and storage in partially depleted oil and gas reservoirs.”
  • International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Control (IEAGHG) Joint Monitoring and Modeling Network Meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 7-9, 2016, three invited talks: (1) Modeling CO2 in Wellbores (Oldenburg and Pan); (2) Well Blowouts in Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Lessons Learned from Modeling the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Leak (Oldenburg, Pan, Jordan, and Freifeld); (3) Modeling CO2 Flow and Dispersion in the Near Surface and Atmosphere (Oldenburg).
  • Geological Society of America, Pardee Symposium, “Field-scale experiments for developing solutions to subsurface energy challenges,” GSA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 25, 2016.
  • American Geophysical Union Fall 2015 Meeting, session entitled, Energy Storage in the Subsurface: Challenges and Solution Strategies. “Compressed Air Energy Storage in Depleted Natural Gas Reservoirs: Effects of Porous Media and Gas Mixing,” by Oldenburg and Pan.
  • Sixth International Environmental Forum on CCS, Korea, July 21-23, 2015, Seoul, Korea.
  • American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, Geochemistry Section, session on CO2 Trapping and Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery, August 10-14, 2014, San Francisco, CA. “Simulations of porous media compressed air energy storage (PM-CAES) with CO2 as cushion gas.”
  • The 1st U.S. – Korea Clean Energy and Clean Tech Forum, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, November 21, 2013, “Grid-scale porous media compressed air energy storage (PM-CAES).”
  • TOUGH Short Course, after-dinner speech, September 9, 2013.
  • IEAGHG Joint Network Meeting on Modeling and Risk Management, Trondheim, Norway, “Process Modeling of Wellbore Leakage for GCS Risk Assessment,” June 11, 2013
  • Gordon Research Conference, Invited Plenary Speaker, Les Diablerets, Switzerland, “On Carbon Sequestration and Utilization: CO2 as Cushion Gas for Energy Storage,” June 28, 2012
  • Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership Annual Meeting, Great Falls, MT, “Geologic Modeling and Flow Simulation,” April 18-19, 2012
  • Stanford University, Energy Resources Engineering, seminar, "On the Utilization of CO2 as a Cushion Gas for Compressed Air Energy Storage,” April 10, 2012
  • U.C. Berkeley, Energy Resources Group, seminar, “Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration: A Direct Approach to Reducing Point-Source CO2 Emissions,” February 8, 2012
  • U.S. DOE Saline Formation GCS R&D Needs Workshop, “Simulation,” October 18-21, 2011
  • U.C. Irvine, ICEPAG (Int. Colloq. on Env. Preferred Adv. Power Gen.), Costa Mesa, CA., “Coupling Geologic Carbon Sequestration and Compressed Air Energy Storage,” February 10-12, 2011
  • U.C. Berkeley, Civil and Environmental Engineering, seminar, “Reducing Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions by Geologic Carbon Sequestration and Compressed Air Energy Storage,” October 15, 2010
  • Berkeley Lab Science at the Theater, “Just Say No to Carbon Emissions,” Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Understanding Geologic Carbon Sequestration,” April 26, 2010
  • LBNL Summer Lecture Series, seminar, “Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Mitigating Climate Change by Injecting CO2 Underground,” July 21, 2009
  • Stanford University, Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology, seminar, "Modeling CO2 Leakage from Geologic Carbon Sequestration (GCS) Sites for Monitoring Design and Impact Assessment,” February 2, 2009
  • U.C. Berkeley Institute of the Environment, seminar, "Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Near-Surface Challenges,” November 13, 2008
  • U.C. Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative (BERC) Conference, seminar, “Challenges of Geologic Carbon Sequestration,” February 2008
  • Montana State University, Dept. of Chemistry/ZERT Project, seminar, “Near-Surface Dispersion of CO2 Seepage from Geologic Storage Sites: Processes, Impacts, and Detection,” April 11, 2007
  • Haas School of Business, “Geologic CO2 storage: a safe and effective approach to reducing point-source CO2 emissions,” March 6, 2007
  • Energy INet Workshop, Calgary, “Migration Mechanisms and Potential Impacts of CO2 Leakage and Seepage from CCS Projects,” January 26, 2006
  • U.C. Davis, “Carbon Sequestration with Enhanced Gas Recovery,” 2003
  • Stanford University, “CO2 Injection for Carbon Sequestration with Enhanced Gas Recovery,” May 14, 2002
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