Russian scientists have proposed burying greenhouse gases in former oil fields.  The studies were carried out by employees of the Laboratory of General Hydromechanics of the Research Institute of Mechanics of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, the Oil and Gas Information Agency (ANGI) reports.

 Scientists helped evaluate the prospects of using the technology of capturing and storing carbon dioxide underground (CCUS – Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) in the region of Western Siberia.  The CCUS technology involves the injection of millions of tons of gaseous emissions from industrial enterprises into permeable geological formations for the purpose of their disposal or long-term storage.  This makes it possible to exclude the ingress of polluting emissions into the atmosphere and, thus, helps to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the climate.

 Gas can be placed underground in depleted oil and gas fields and in water-saturated reservoirs.  Thus, oil and gas provinces, for which a large range of geophysical data has been accumulated, have the best prospects for a reasonable and safe deployment of CCUS technology.

 The results of the study were published in the highly rated journal Gas Science and Engineering.