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

Achieving adaptive control of subsurface fractures and flow requires transformative advances in our ability to characterize, monitor, model, engineer and sustain induced conditions in subsurface energy systems

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.

Adaptive control of subsurface fractures and fluid flow is a crosscutting challenge that has the potential to transform subsurface energy production and waste storage strategies. The DOE Subsurface Crosscut is integrating expertise and resources across National Laboratories, universities and industry to meet this challenge.

SubTER is exploring targeted Research, Development and Field Demonstrations RD&D emphasizing the following four topic areas. Key objectives of these topic areas, subsequently referred to as pillars, include:

	Wellbore Integrity & Drilling Technologies Develop wellbores using new materials, and construction techniques, and develop and deploy new evaluation and remediation technologies such that integrity is improved by a factor of 5 over 10 years.
	Subsurface Stress & Induced Seismicity Develop technologies to quantify the in-situ subsurface stress, including critical stress states along faults that could trigger induced seismicity, and manipulate such stresses to improve reservoir performance and reduce risk.
	Permeability Manipulation & Fluid Control Develop a knowledge base and capabilities to manipulate subsurface flow through an integration of physical alterations, physicochemical fluid/rock interaction processes, and novel stimulation methods implemented at the field scale.
	New Subsurface Signals Transform our ability to characterize subsurface systems by developing new approaches to sense the subsurface and analyze multiple datasets, to identify critical system transitions, and to develop process control approaches.

Questions, comments, suggestions about this website or any of the content associated with it?

Please contact:
Helen Prieto, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(510) 486-6696, HGPrieto@lbl.gov