Program Domain

Energy Resources

Scientists in the Energy Resources Program Domain advance the knowledge and technology needed to develop and utilize subsurface systems for clean, secure, cost-effective, and sustainable energy production, energy storage, and disposal of energy-related wastes.

Programs

Program

Nuclear Energy and Waste

The role of the Nuclear Energy and Waste Program is to perform fundamental and applied Earth-sciences-related research concerning the safe, secure, and responsible use of nuclear energy, as well as the safe storage and disposal of used nuclear fuel and waste.

Jens Birkholzer jtbirkholzer@lbl.gov 510-486-7134

Program

Hydrocarbon Resources

The Hydrocarbon Resources Program focuses on developing an understanding of the basic concepts and processes governing the storage and nonisothermal flow of hydrocarbons in porous media during production, as well as an understanding of associated coupled processes and phenomena involved in resource development and production.

Tim Kneafsey tjkneafsey@lbl.gov 510-486-4414

Program

Geothermal Systems

The Geothermal Systems Program is focused on 1) Developing innovative technologies for identifying and characterizing conventional and hidden natural hydrothermal systems; and 2) Characterizing, developing, and sustaining enhanced geothermal systems, through the use of coupled process models, MEQ monitoring, and laboratory studies.

Patrick F. Dobson pfdobson@lbl.gov 510-486-5373

Program

Geologic Carbon Sequestration

The Geological Carbon Sequestration Program uses theory along with lab, field, and simulation approaches to investigate processes needed to inform and guide the safe and effective implementation of geologic carbon sequestration.

Curtis M. Oldenburg cmoldenburg@lbl.gov 510-486-7419

Background

Subsurface energy resources currently provide or enable >80% of U.S. primary energy, and the trend of relying on the subsurface to meet U.S. energy needs is expected to increase. The subsurface is also a vast reservoir that can be used for the transient storage of energy and for the permanent disposal of energy waste streams (such as CO₂ and nuclear waste). However, the complexity and difficulty in characterizing subsurface reservoirs hinder our ability to use the full potential of these systems, and thus to deliver critical subsurface energy solutions.

To tackle this complexity, projects in this Program Domain require integration across a wide range of EESA expertise, including multiphase flow, reactive geochemistry, imaging of the subsurface, and geomechanics. Capabilities developed in association with one energy strategy often transfer to another. For example, multiphase flow is important in geologic carbon sequestration, geothermal energy, hydrocarbon extraction, nuclear waste isolation, and vadose zone-atmospheric interactions in climate modeling. Similarly, geomechanics and geochemistry coupled with hydrology find application across a wide range of projects within this Program Domain.

In contrast to other Program Domains within EESA, the Energy Resources Program Domain conducts primarily applied research to solve challenges of practical concern to increase the U.S. energy supply and secure its environmental assets. Going beyond the traditional research model of small targeted R&D projects, the Energy Resources Program Domain has been very successful in developing new working models for research partnerships, including DOE geothermal and carbon sequestration “partnership programs” between DOE and industry, and hydrocarbon industry-sponsored “Centers of Excellence,” where investigators from EESA work closely with industry scientists on a common problem. Scientists working within this Program Domain value coordination and integration with governmental and industrial institutions, and focus on urgent and critical topics to ensure rapid deployment of promising new technologies.

Research in this Program Domain aligns with the work done in the Sustainable Energy Systems Program Domain. With the need to consider environmental aspects as a critical component of all energy strategies, our research also aligns with the Environmental and Biological Systems Science Program Domain. This program domain is part of EESA’s Energy Geosciences Division.

News & Events

Three EESA scientists receive DOE Early Career Research Awards

August 10, 2017

Three Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) scientists receive the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Award for 2017. Congratulations to Nick Bouskill, Charlie Koven, and Neslihan Tas Baas.

EESA Develops New Approach to Restock California’s Groundwater via Almond Orchards, Vineyards

August 3, 2017

Groundwater—the water stored underneath the Earth’s surface between the cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and bedrock—is essential for the California residents and farmers who rely on it for up to 46 percent of their annual water use. Yet during the 2012-2017 drought, the state’s surface water supply was not sufficient to meet demand, resulting in excess groundwater pumping that caused land subsidence of up to 13 inches in some parts of the San Joaquin Valley.

Now a team of scientists at Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area are working with farmers and partners like the Almond Board of California and UC Davis to test on-farm banking, a new approach that has the potential to manage groundwater more sustainably. It’s an improvement on the age-old method of groundwater recharge, the process of replenishing aquifers by infiltrating water from the surface into shallow aquifers.

“On-farm banking has the promise of making the most productive use of the greatest amount of land possible while increasing the reliability and resiliency of California’s groundwater supply,” says EESA scientist Peter Nico, a soil and environmental biogeochemist.

EESA Scientist Builds Cross-Border Collaborations for Geothermal Research

August 1, 2017

Thirty-five years ago, Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) scientist Patrick Dobson began his career as a graduate student by conducting field mapping, collecting fluid samples, and learning the ropes from local scientists at the Los Azufres geothermal field in Michoacán, Mexico. During his summer doing field work in Mexico, he met Berkeley Lab’s Marcelo Lippmann, who was attending a symposium on the Cerro Prieto geothermal field, the subject of a collaborative research project between the Lab (funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) and the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico’s state-owned utility.

Now—after decades of leading geothermal exploration projects all over the world, including Indonesia, Central America, and South America— Dobson’s work has come full circle.

Earlier this year, he spent two weeks in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico as a Fulbright Specialist in geothermal research. Hosted by the Center for Scientific Investigation and Higher Education in Ensenada (CICESE), one of the main hubs for geothermal work in the country, Dobson met with Mexican researchers to share knowledge, identify areas of mutual interest, and explore potential areas of collaboration.

Berkeley Lab Scientists Brief California Science Advisory Panel for Food and Agriculture

July 28, 2017

As two-thirds of the fruits and nuts—and over a third of the vegetables—produced in the United States are grown in California, it’s crucial that the Golden State cultivate healthy soils that are resilient to stresses such as climate change, drought, and groundwater overuse. Now scientists at Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) and Biosciences Area are contributing to the effort by sharing their expertise with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)’s Science Advisory Panel, a group comprised of farmers, agriculture professionals, and experts in areas such as water, conservation, and resource management. Last week, EESA scientist Peter Nico hosted the panel at the Lab to brief them on research related to developing healthy soils, sustainable groundwater management strategies, and climate-adaptive agriculture.

Susan Hubbard Named 2017 American Geophysical Union Fellow

July 27, 2017

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has named Susan Hubbard, Associate Laboratory Director for the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area at Berkeley Lab, as a 2017 AGU Fellow.

EESA Scientist to Lead Multimillion-Dollar Geothermal Energy Project

July 20, 2017

Tim Kneafsey, a staff scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area, will lead a new $9 million project aimed at removing technical barriers to commercialization of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), a clean energy technology with the potential to power 100 million American homes.

Berkeley Lab will partner with seven other DOE national labs and six universities to develop field experiments focused on understanding and modeling rock fractures, an essential element of geothermal systems. Scientists will use the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota to create small-scale fracture networks in crystalline rock 1,500 meters below ground.