OR/16/029 Introduction

Pearce, J M, Akhurst, M C, Jones, D G, Vincent, C J and Booth, J H. 2016. Pathways from pilot to demonstration: How can research advance CO2 geological storage deployment? (Energy and Marine Geosciences Programme) British Geological Survey External Report, OR/16/029.

An international workshop was hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS), supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), from the 1st to the 3rd of March 2016 at the BGS offices in Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

The workshop objectives were to:

• Examine how pilot, field laboratory and laboratory projects can inform and advance large-scale CO₂ storage and low-carbon geo-energy resources
• Reinforce the importance of advancing CCS through practical experience at varied relevant scales: pilots/field labs (testing concepts) and demonstrations (deploy technologies and identify new technical questions for pilots to examine)
• Strengthening international links between field lab, pilot, demonstration and large scale project operators to make it easier to share lessons learned
• Exchange research learning between CCS and other geo-energy disciplines

The workshop outcomes were intended to identify of opportunities for collaboration and development of outline proposals to advance CCS and geo-energy research through practical experience and demonstrations.

Workshop invitees included policy makers, demonstration project representatives, academics and pilot project operators. A total of 75 delegates attended, who represented 46 organisations including research institutions, industry (national, multinational and suppliers), global and national CCS networks and trade associations (see attached delegate list — Appendix 1 - List of delegates), and a government representative from UK DECC. Delegates were from 13 countries worldwide.

The agenda (Appendix 2 - Final agenda) provided an opportunity for delegates to gain a full overview of key storage pilot and field laboratory programmes globally, representing most of those of which we are aware. No further pilot projects were identified during the meeting which could have been invited, though we did not include larger demonstration projects or pilot experiments that were completed over two years ago that had been very well published and discussed at previous meetings.