Last Updated: July 10, 2003

1. Objective

Carbon sequestration is the critical “third option” for addressing greenhouse gas emission, along with increased energy efficiency and expanded use of low-carbon fuels. A project of “Research and Development of Underground Storage technology for Carbon Dioxide”, supported by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, is under way. Another project of Ocean Sequestration is also ongoing in our research group.



2. Research Topics

<Ocean Sequestration>

There are two types of concepts of ocean sequestration.

• Dissolution type: Rapid dilution of dissolved CO2 in large volumes of sea water. It is represented by so called moving ship type.
• Storage type: Local deposition of liquid CO2 in a topographic depression of the ocean floor deeper than 3 km. It is so called lake type.

Related project: CO2 Ocean Sequestration Project

<Geological Sequestration>

Experimental studies include:

1. Effects of CO2 injection on seismic wave velocity, to support interpretation of field results of cross-well seismic tomography.
2. Measurements of mineral dissolution rate of reservoir rock, to evaluate the long-term influence of geochemical phenomena in supercritical CO2-water-mineral system.
3. Observation of CO2 bubble formation in pore water, to assess the safety.

Related project: CO2 Geological Sequestration Project

3. Publication List

<Ocean Sequestration>

• Kita J., Ishimatsu A., Kikkawa T. and Hayashi M.: Effects of CO2 on Maine Fish, in Proc. of GHGT-6, 2002.

<Geological Sequestration>

• Xue Z., Ohsumi T. and Koide H.: Laboratory Measurements of Seismic Wave Velocity by CO2 Injection in Two Porous Sandstones, in Proc. of GHGT-6, 2002.
• Sorai M., Ohsumi T, Ishikawa M.: Measurements of Feldspar Dissolution Rates under Supercritical CO2-Water Mineral System Based on Nanoscale Surface Observatiuon, in Proc. of GHGT-6, 2002.
• Li X., Koide H, Ohsumi T.: Mechanical stability of the potential CO2 sequestration sites in Japan, in Proc. of GHGT-6, 2002.
• Okamoto I., Li X. and Ohsumi T.: Effect of supercritical CO2 as the organic solvent on sealing performance for underground storage, in Proc. of GHGT-6, 2002.

4. Researchers （As of July 1, 2003）

CO2 Sequestration Research Group
Group Leader	Youichi KAYA kaya@rite.or.jp
Sub-Leader (Chief Researcher)	Shigeo MURAI murai@rite.or.jp
Reseach Fellow (Chief Researcher)	Takashi OHSUMI ohsumi@rite.or.jp
CO2 Geological Sequestration Project Leader	Shigeo MURAI murai@rite.or.jp
CO2 Geological Sequestration Project Sub-Leader (Chief Researcher)	Yasunobu MIZUNO mizuno@rite.or.jp
CO2 Ocean Sequestration Project Leader	Shigeo MURAI murai@rite.or.jp
Reseach Management
Leader	Shigeo MURAI murai@rite.or.jp
Vice-Manager	Masanori ABE m-abe@rite.or.jp
Vice-Manager	Kazunari TANAKA tanakak@rite.or.jp
Vice-Manager (Geological Sequestration)	Ken'ichi ZENFUKU zenfuku@rite.or.jp
Vice-Manager (Geological Sequestration)	Kiyomi KITAMURA kitamura@rite.or.jp
Vice-Manager, Senior Researcher (Ocean Sequestration)	Akira OISHI oishi@rite.or.jp
(Ocean Sequestration)	Kimiko NAKANISHI kimiko@rite.or.jp
Senior Researcher (Exploratory Research)	Tatsuya YAJIMA tyajima@rite.or.jp
Assistant Researcher	Yukari MORIKAGE morikage@rite.or.jp
CO2 Geological Sequestration
Leader, Senior Researcher	Ziqiu XUE xue@rite.or.jp
Researcher	Masao SORAI sorai@rite.or.jp
Researcher	Ikuo OKAMOTO okamoto@rite.or.jp
CO2 Ocean Sequestration
Leader, Senior Researcher	Jun KITA kita@rite.or.jp
Senior Researcher	Michimasa MAGI magi@rite.or.jp
Researcher	Saeko MITO mito@rite.or.jp
Exploratory Research
Leader	Tatsuya YAJIMA tyajima@rite.or.jp
Researcher	Xiaochun LI xli@rite.or.jp