Gas-Water-Rock Interactions Induced by Reservoir Exploitation, CO2 Sequestration, and Other Geological Storage

Interactions gaz-eau-roche induites par l'exploitation des réservoirs, le piégeage géologique

¹ Institut français du pétrole
² Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
³ Afdeling Fysico-chemische Geologie

Abstract

At the opening of the Millenium the planet Earth is confronted with a major open question, namely: what will be the result in the nearby future of the soaring interference between human activities and natural environmental processes? There is an increasing sense of alarm about the anthropogenic threats that exert pressure on the environment, especially if projected towards the future with the growing adoption of the standards of leaving that prevail in developed countries. Modern economies, born from the Industrial Revolution, have developed on the basis of the largely available and relatively inexpensive energy provided by fossil fuels, which are easy to produce, to transport, to store and to use in concentrated power units. In the so-called rich countries basic equipment, energy production means, industrial facilities, lifestyle expectations were shaped by this position with respect to energy, and fastly developing countries today reproduce the same attitude. But for the first time in human history the rising population, the escalating consumption of energy, water, food and raw materials, the increasing production of substances and goods but also of pollutants and wastes, and the expanding demand for mobility and transportation collide with the physical capacities of the planet's resources.