Research, Technology, and Education for the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Industrial processes such as the production of cement, iron and steel, and petrochemicals, as well as burning fossil fuels (e.g., gas, oil, and coal) has measurably increased CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere. The long-term consequences of increased concentrations of CO2 gas in Earth’s atmosphere will have negative impacts to oceans and climate.

One possible response is to capture CO2 in industrial settings and reinject it into deep geological reservoirs where it will be retained for long periods of time. This process is called geological sequestration, or carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) seeks to impact global levels of atmospheric CO2 by

  • Conducting studies, often focusing on the Gulf of Mexico, in regard to geological storage, retention and monitoring of CO2 in the deep subsurface
  • Educating the public about the process of geological CO2 storage, the risks and mitigation measures associated with carbon capture and storage deployment
  • Enabling the private sector to develop an economically viable industry to store CO2 in the Gulf of Mexico, across the U.S., and globally 

Since 1998, the GCCC has been a global leader in research that facilitates a proactive response by energy-related businesses to reduce atmospheric release of CO2. The GCCC has led or is in the process of conducting several major field research projects onshore and offshore to develop effective technologies to monitor retention of CO2 in the subsurface. In addition, the GCCC has led a number of diverse projects including estimation of storage capacity, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) screening and economic assessments, risk and monitoring of leakage to water and surface resources, assessment of pressure, and whole-system integration.

GCCC Staff, 2023

The GCCC is a multidisciplinary group that includes experts in geology, hydrology, petroleum engineering, chemistry, economics, and computer modeling. For more information about the researchers, post-docs, and students who comprise the Carbon Center, please see our staff page.​​​​​​
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Recent News

March 14th, 2024: Excited to announce that the GCCC’s Alex Bump and Sue Hovorka led a workshop associated with and, following the SPE-AAPG-SEG Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) Conferenceclick to read


March 13, 2024: The Gulf Coast Carbon Center’s Texas-Louisiana Carbon Management Community (TXLA CMC), officially emailed the first quarterly newsletter as well as the latest copy of the TXLA CMC phone book out to members…click to read


March 12, 2024: Susan Hovorka and Angela Luciano hosted a film crew from Korea Education Broadcasting System (EBS) in South Korea…click to read 


March 11–13, 2024: The GCCC’s research group will have a large impact at the 2024 SPE-AAPG-SEG Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) Conference this year…click to read 


March 10, 2024: Excited to announce that the GCCC’s Shuvajit Bhattacharya led a workshop associated with and, leading up to the SPE-AAPG-SEG Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) Conferenceclick to read


March 8, 2024: Congratulations to our Master’s Student, Previna Arumugam, for being selected to take part in the prestigious IEAGHG International CCS Summer School…click to read


March 8, 2024: At the GCCC’s weekly meeting, Dolores van der Kolk provided a presentation entitled, Sedimentary Facies & Heterogeneity: Implications for CCSclick to read


February 26–28, 2024: GCCC Representatives Angela Luciano, Sue Hovorka, and Seyyed Hosseini attended the 2024 Groundwater Protection Council Meeting in Oklahoma City, OK…click to read 


February 24, 2024: Special thanks to the GCCC’s Sue Hovorka and Ramón Gil-Egui for volunteering at STEM Girl Day at UT Austinclick to read


February 23, 2024: Zhicheng (William) Wang had a presentation entitled, Numerical Simulation 101 & 201: Introduction to Macro-Scale Simulations, and Pore-Scale Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for our team of researchers and students at our GCCC weekly meeting. 


February 22, 2024: Tip Meckel presented the AAPG Distinguished lecture for the University of Oklahoma’s Pigott Colloquium Series…click to read


February 20, 2024: Ramón Treviño presented “Carbon Capture & Sequestration: Implications for Groundwater” to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ’s) bi-monthly brown bag seminar…click to read


February 13–14, 2024: Sue Hovorka, Alex Bump, and Tip Meckel traveled to Reston, Virginia for an in-person only Joint DOE-DOI Technical Workshop on Basin-Scale Issues for Carbon Storage....click to read


February 13, 2024: Texas-Louisiana Carbon Management Community (TXLA CMC) will host the first public kick-off meeting in a webinar…click to read


February 9, 2024: Hailun Ni’s graduate student, Jose Ubillus, presented an update on his research…click to read


February 8, 2024: Excited to announce that Dr. Katherine Romanak virtually presented on the topic of “Carbon Capture - Monitoring, Safety and Geologic Impact of Underground CO2 Injection” to the Healthy Planet Action Coalitionclick to read


February 2, 2024: Zhicheng (William) Wang held a virtual EASiTool Workshop for participants currently in the Society of Exploration Geophysicist’s (SEG’s) Evolve Programclick to read


January 30 – February 1, 2024: In Houston, TX, the GCCC’s Carlos Uroza attended the conference entitled, “Investable CCUS Projects in Oil & Gas 2024: Pathways for Commercially Viable Capture, Transportation, Storage, and Utilization for EOR”....click to read


January 30, 2024: Hailun Ni and Sue Hovorka took undergraduate and graduate students from the Jackson School of Geosciences on a field trip at Austin’s Core Research Centerclick to read


January 29, 2024: Special thanks to Professor Myles Allen, from the University of Oxford, for visiting us at the Bureau of Economic Geology and Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austinclick to read


January 24–25, 2024: Associated with UTCCS-7 held on January 23, 2024, the Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) and the Texas Carbon Management Program (TxCMP) hosted a joint meeting for Sponsors of their consortiums…click to read


January 23, 2024: The Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC), joined the Texas Carbon Management Program (TxCMP), and the UT Energy Institute to host UTCCS-7click to read


January 16, 2024: Lucy Atkinson, Dorothy Dankel, and Katherine Romanak published, “The effect of monitoring complexity on stakeholder acceptance of CO2 geological storage projects in the US gulf coast region” in Frontiers in Marine Science…click to read


January 11, 2024: On behalf of the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC), Carlos Uroza was the guest speaker for the Geophysical Society of Houston...click to read


January 11, 2024: Alex Bump's graduate student, Ismail Faruqi, presented at a Sponsors' Meeting for the ongoing, industry-supported, Gulf of Mexico Basin Depositional Synthesis (GBDS) Projectclick to read


January 5, 2024: Angela Luciano presented a Tech Talk entitled, “Documenting Long-term Operational Success of Class 1 Wells in the US Gulf Coast to Build Confidence in the UIC Program” at the Bureau of Economic Geology…click to read


January 5, 2024: Carlos Uroza’s graduate student, Maria Madariaga, presented an update at the GCCC’s weekly meeting about her Master’s research…click to read

 

Click here to view 2024 news and events.

 

En español: la información de almacenamiento geológico de carbono

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The University of Texas at Austin is proud to be associated with BP’s sponsorship of the GCCC, an activity accredited by BP’s Advancing Low Carbon program.


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