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Program Domain

Energy Resources

EMGeo

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 mission of LBNL’s Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste Program is to perform fundamental and applied earth-sciences-related research concerning the safe, secure, and responsible use of nuclear energy, mostly focused on the safe long-term geological disposal of used nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.

LianGe Zheng [email protected] 510-486-5502

Stock Image of Oil Field
Program

Hydrocarbon Resources

The Hydrocarbon Resources Program focuses on developing the understanding of the basic concepts and methodologies governing the coupled processes and associated phenomena involved in resource development and production. EESA scientists work to develop improved understanding of the basic concepts and processes governing multiphase non-isothermal flow in subsurface porous/fractured media during hydrocarbon production under challenging conditions.

Tim Kneafsey [email protected] 510-486-4414

Program

Geothermal Systems

The Geothermal Systems Program is focused on two research thrusts: (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, microearthquake (MEQ) monitoring, and laboratory studies.

Pat Dobson

Patrick F. Dobson [email protected] 510-486-5373

Geological Carbon Sequestration
Program

Geologic Carbon Sequestration

The Geological Carbon Sequestration (GCS) 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 [email protected] 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.

Featured Projects

Subsurface Technology and Engineering Research, Development and Demonstration (SubTER)

September 17, 2015

SubTER:
The subsurface provides more than 80 percent of the energy used in the US and serves as a vast reservoir for CO2, nuclear waste, and energy storage. Despite decades of research, game-changing advances are needed to revolutionize utilization of the subsurface for energy production and storage while also protecting the environment.

Program Domain Leads

Jens Birkholzer
Energy Geosciences Division Director
Senior Scientist
Hydrogeologist

Cindy Tilton Portrait

Cynthia Tilton
Senior Administrator to the Division Director

News & Events

EESA Scientists Contribute to DOE GTO Research on Critical Minerals

February 24, 2021

  Scientists in the Energy Geosciences Division are contributing to research sponsored by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) investigating the potential extraction of lithium, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals that are dissolved constituents of hot geothermal brines that are used to produce  electricity. Far more information is currently needed, for instance, about…

Getting to Net Zero – and Even Net Negative – is Surprisingly Feasible, and Affordable

January 29, 2021

Regardless of the pathway we take to become carbon neutral by 2050, the actions needed in the next 10 years are the same. (Credit: Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab) Reaching zero net emissions of carbon dioxide from energy and industry by 2050 can be accomplished by rebuilding U.S. energy infrastructure to run primarily on renewable energy, at a…

EESA Members Invited to Join Pod: Unlearning Racism in Geoscience

January 27, 2021

  This week marks the launch of a new education and training course called Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE). Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, URGE‘s primary objectives are to (1) deepen the community’s knowledge of the effects of racism on the participation and retention of Black, Brown, and…

Six Scientists Awarded EESA Early Career Development Grants

January 26, 2021

  Six early career scientists have been awarded EESA Early Career Development Grants. Each project is aligned with the goals of the EESA Strategic Vision.  The EESA Early Career Development Grant (ECDG) program provides an opportunity for early career scientific staff to develop new concepts, tools, and approaches with the potential to complement/enhance existing EESA…

EGD Postdoc Fellow Receives Young Researcher Presenter Award

January 21, 2021

Pramod Bhuvankar, an EGD postdoctoral fellow working with research scientist Abdullah Cihan, received a Young Researcher Presenter Award during the 2020 Computational Methods in Water Resources conference in December. His presentation, “Pore-scale simulations of permeability decline in porous media due to fines migration,” described a pore-scale CFD study of clay mobilization in porous media due…

Berkeley Lab Partners with International Collaborators in Geothermal Energy Research

January 20, 2021

  Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division have begun working with European partners on three new geothermal research projects through the Department of Energy’s membership in GEOTHERMICA, a transnational consortium that combines the in-country financial resources and research expertise of 15 participating countries to demonstrate and validate novel concepts in geothermal energy use. This marks the…

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