Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Logo
Menu
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Organizational Charts
    • Virtual Tours
    • EESA Strategic Vision
  • Our People
    • A-Z People
    • Alumni Network
    • Area Offices
    • Committees
    • Directors
    • IDEA Working Group
    • Paul A. Witherspoon
    • Postdocs & Early Careers
    • Search by Expertise
  • Careers & Opportunities
    • Careers
    • Intern Pilot w/CSUEB
    • Mentorship Program
    • Recognition & Funding Opps
    • EESA Mini Grants
    • S&E Metrics for Performance and Promotion
    • Student Opportunities
    • Supervisor EnRichment (SupER) Program
    • Promotion Metrics (Scientific)
  • Research
    • Area-Wide Program Domain
      • Earth AI & Data
    • Our Divisions
    • Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division
      • Environmental & Biological Systems Science
        • Programs
        • Environmental Remediation & Water Resources
        • Ecosystems Biology Program
        • Bioenergy
      • Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
        • Atmospheric System Research
        • Terrestrial Ecosystem Science
      • Climate & Atmosphere Processes
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
        • Atmospheric System Research
      • Earth Systems & Society
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
    • Energy Geosciences Division
      • Discovery Geosciences
        • Programs
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geophysics
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geochemistry
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Isotope
      • Energy Resources and Carbon Management
        • Programs
        • Carbon Removal & Mineralization Program
        • Carbon Storage Program
        • Geothermal Systems
        • Hydrocarbon Resource Sustainability
        • Nuclear Energy & Waste
      • Resilient Energy, Water & Infrastructure
        • Programs
        • Water-Energy
        • Critical Infrastructure
        • Environmental Resilience
        • Grid-Scale Subsurface Energy Storage
        • National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI)
    • Projects
    • Research at a Glance
    • Publication Lists
    • Centers and Resources
    • Technologies & National User Programs
  • Departments
    • Climate Sciences
    • Ecology
    • Geochemistry
    • Geophysics
    • Hydrogeology
    • Operations
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Earth & Environment Newsletter
  • Intranet
  • Safety
    • EESA Safety
  • FoW
  • Search

  • all
  • people
  • events
  • posts
  • pages
  • projects
  • publications

Program Domain

Energy Resources and Carbon Management

EMGeo

Scientists in the Energy Resources and Carbon Management 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

Carbon Removal & Mineralization Program

LBNL’s Carbon Removal and Mineralization Program is focused towards performing fundamental and applied earth science research relevant to capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geologic, bio-based and ocean reservoirs or in value-added products to create negative emissions.

Bhavna Arora portrait

Bhavna Arora barora@lbl.gov 510-495-2163

Geological Carbon Sequestration
Program

Carbon Storage Program

The Carbon Storage 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.

David Lee Alumbaugh dlalumbaugh@lbl.gov 510-486-6346

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 pfdobson@lbl.gov 510-486-5373

Stock Image of Oil Field
Program

Hydrocarbon Resource Sustainability

The Hydrocarbon Resource Sustainability 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 tjkneafsey@lbl.gov 510-486-4414

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 lzheng@lbl.gov 510-486-5502

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 and Carbon Management 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 and Carbon Management 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.

Program Domain Leads

Jens Birkholzer
Associate Laboratory Director (Acting);
Senior Scientist;
Hydrogeologist

Elizabeth (Lizz) Mahoney
Senior Administrator to the Division Director

Helen G. Prieto
Program Operations Analyst

News & Events

EESA Research Scientist Selected for NAE 2022 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

May 23, 2022

Mengsu Hu, an EESA research scientist, was selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium in September. For more than 25 years, the NAE has identified the best and brightest early-career engineers from large and small companies, research universities, and government laboratories to discuss their leading-edge research and…

EESA Experts Participate in National Energy Storage Summit

March 29, 2022

To support the nation’s transition to renewable energy and the growing demand for battery production, there is an accelerating urgency for new ideas and innovative solutions. From March 8-9, Berkeley Lab hosted a National Energy Storage Summit to connect national and regional leaders across industries, government, and communities to encourage collaboration on tackling the challenges…

Carol Chien Makes Impact as Co-Founder of Asian Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group

February 24, 2022

As Programs Operational Analyst in the Energy Geosciences Division and co-founder of the Asian Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group (API ERG), Carol Chien’s efforts have been impactful in both EESA and Berkeley Lab’s employee community.  The API ERG is a group dedicated to help API employees reach their full potential by establishing a support system,…

Remote Autonomous Monitoring Developed at the GMF Makes the Difference in Carbon Storage Investigations

Back in November 2020 when field research worldwide had more or less grounded to a halt due to COVID related travel restrictions, one team of EESA geoscientists was able to carry through with a key field investigation–and a complicated one at that. Conducted in underground rock laboratories, their work involves activating a geological fault to…

Quantifying California’s Lithium Valley: Can It Power Our EV Revolution?

February 22, 2022

This article appeared first at newscenter.lbl.gov The Salton Sea geothermal field in California potentially holds enough lithium to meet all of America’s domestic battery needs, with even enough left over to export some of it. But how much of that lithium can be extracted in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way? And how long will the…

National Labs Support Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal by Studying Safety Material for Underground Sites

January 19, 2022

When it comes to nuclear power, the uranium at the heart of fuel rods is also this power source’s Achilles’ heel.  When power plants shut down or the fuel rods in nuclear reactors become inefficient, the high-level nuclear waste resulting from the spent fuel created from running these plants could stay radioactive for thousands of years.…

  • Our People
    • Area Offices
    • Committees
    • Directors
    • Organizational Charts
    • Postdocs
    • Staff Only
    • Search by Expertise
  • Departments
    • Climate Sciences
    • Ecology
    • Geochemistry
    • Geophysics
    • Hydrogeology
  • Research
    • Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division
    • Energy Geosciences Division
    • Program Domains
      • Programs
    • Projects
  • Contact
    • 510 486 6455
    • eesawebmaster@lbl.gov
    • Our Identity

Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo DOE Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo UC

A U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory Managed by the University of California

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · Earth and Environmental Sciences Area · Privacy & Security Notice