Management of water extracted from carbon sequestration projects

Throughout the past decade, frequent discussions and debates have centered on the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). For sequestration to have a reasonably positive impact on atmospheric carbon levels, the anticipated volume of CO{sub 2} that would need to be injected is very large (many millions of tons per year). Many stakeholders have expressed concern about elevated formation pressure following the extended injection of CO{sub 2}. The injected CO{sub 2} plume could potentially extend for many kilometers from the injection well. If not properly managed and monitored, the increased formation pressure could stimulate new fractures or enlarge existing natural cracks or faults, so the CO{sub 2} or the brine pushed ahead of the plume could migrate vertically. One possible tool for management of formation pressure would be to extract water already residing in the formation where CO{sub 2} is being stored. The concept is that by removing water from the receiving formations (referred to as 'extracted water' to distinguish it from 'oil and gas produced water'), the pressure gradients caused by injection could be reduced, and additional pore space could be freed up to sequester CO{sub 2}. Such water extraction would occur away from the CO{sub 2} plume to avoid extracting a portion of the sequestered CO{sub 2} along with the formation water. While water extraction would not be a mandatory component of large-scale carbon storage programs, it could provide many benefits, such as reduction of pressure, increased space for CO{sub 2} storage, and potentially, 'plume steering.' Argonne National Laboratory is developing information for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to evaluate management of extracted water. If water is extracted from geological formations designated to receive injected CO{sub 2} for sequestration, the project operator will need to identify methods for managing very large volumes of water most of which will contain large quantities of salt and other dissolved minerals. Produced water from oil and gas production also typically contains large quantities of dissolved solids. Therefore, many of the same practices that are established and used for managing produced water also may be applicable for extracted water. This report describes the probable composition of the extracted water that is removed from the formations, options for managing the extracted water, the pros and cons of those options, and some opportunities for beneficial use of the water. Following the introductory material in Chapter 1, the report is divided into chapters covering the following topics: (Chapter 2) examines the formations that are likely candidates for CO{sub 2} sequestration and provides a general evaluation of the geochemical characteristics of the formations; (Chapter 3) makes some preliminary estimates of the volume of water that could be extracted; (Chapter 4) provides a qualitative review of many potential technologies and practices for managing extracted water and for each technology or management practice, pros and cons are provided; (Chapter 5) explores the potential costs of water management; and (Chapter 6) presents the conclusions

Public Perception of Desalinated Produced Water From Oil and Gas Field Operations: A Replication

This study is a replication of Theodori et al.’s (2009) research on public perception of desalinated produced water from oil and gas field operations. The data used in this paper were collected in twelve Texas counties. Overall, the findings of this investigation paralleled those uncovered in Theodori et al.’s original exploration. Our data reveal that small percentages of respondents are extremely familiar with the process of desalination and extremely confident that desalinated water could meet human drinking water quality and purity standards. Our data also indicate that respondents are more favorably disposed toward the use of desalinated water for purposes where the probability of human or animal ingestion is lessened. Lastly, our data show that individuals with higher levels of familiarity with the process of desalination were more likely than those with lower levels of familiarity to agree that desalinated water from oil and gas field operations could safely be used for each of nine proposed purposes. Possible implications of these findings are advanced

Session 2A: \u3cem\u3ePanel Discussion: Developing Post-Incident Risk Communication Guidelines for Intentional Water Contamination Events\u3c/em\u3e

This panel will discuss emerging findings from a US EPA-funded research project intended to improve risk communication for post-incident decontamination and clearance activities associated with intentional contamination of a water system. The session will center around Phase II of the study, which focuses on extending the Phase I case study findings that were presented at last year’s KWRRI Symposium, to identify ways in which disparate stakeholder groups in metropolitan areas differentially perceive risk and subsequent risk communication efforts

Formative Reputation: From Being an Organizational Asset to Becoming a Process in The Making

In the last decade, we have witnessed an explosion of emergent web technologies and platforms that have drawn the attention of the academic community, as well as of professionals in many sectors. This paper explores the concept of reputation-making with the aim of explaining how the rise of user-generated content websites has influenced organizational reputation-making practices in the travel sector. The findings are based upon a corpus of data including: a field study at the offices of the largest travel user-generated website, TripAdvisor and an adaptation of virtual ethnography called ‘netnography’. In so doing, key insights are generated to inform organizational reputation-making. The paper concludes with the assertion that if we aim to understand the phenomenon of reputation-making, we have to develop a more nuanced and sophisticated way to conceptualize its formativeness. It is suggested that this extends beyond snap shot assessments or post hoc crisis management to an ongoing maintenance of the emergent and processual nature of reputation across the off-line and online spaces

Session 2A: \u3cem\u3eDeveloping Post-Incident Risk Communication Guidelines for Intentional Water Contamination Events\u3c/em\u3e

This panel will discuss a US EPA-funded research project intended to improve risk communication for post-incident decontamination and clearance activities associated with intentional contamination of a water system. The study incorporates two complementary methods conducted in successive phases. The recently-completed first phase included robust case study analyses of risk communication related to recent and significant contamination incidents. The second phase, which is currently underway, will identify ways in which disparate stakeholder groups in a metropolitan area differentially perceive risk and subsequent risk communication efforts

Preliminary technical and legal evaluation of disposing of nonhazardous oil field waste into salt caverns

Caverns can be readily formed in salt formations through solution mining. The caverns may be formed incidentally, as a result of salt recovery, or intentionally to create an underground chamber that can be used for storing hydrocarbon products or compressed air or disposing of wastes. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the feasibility, suitability, and legality of disposing of nonhazardous oil and gas exploration, development, and production wastes (hereafter referred to as oil field wastes, unless otherwise noted) in salt caverns. Chapter 2 provides background information on: types and locations of US subsurface salt deposits; basic solution mining techniques used to create caverns; and ways in which salt caverns are used. Later chapters provide discussion of: federal and state regulatory requirements concerning disposal of oil field waste, including which wastes are considered eligible for cavern disposal; waste streams that are considered to be oil field waste; and an evaluation of technical issues concerning the suitability of using salt caverns for disposing of oil field waste. Separate chapters present: types of oil field wastes suitable for cavern disposal; cavern design and location; disposal operations; and closure and remediation. This report does not suggest specific numerical limits for such factors or variables as distance to neighboring activities, depths for casings, pressure testing, or size and shape of cavern. The intent is to raise issues and general approaches that will contribute to the growing body of information on this subject

The RESET project: constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka

This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (. RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100-8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra 'lattice' that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.RESET was funded through Consortium Grants awarded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to a collaborating team drawn from four institutions: Royal Holloway University of London (grant reference NE/E015905/1), the Natural History Museum, London (NE/E015913/1), Oxford University (NE/E015670/1) and the University of Southampton, including the National Oceanography Centre (NE/01531X/1). The authors also wish to record their deep gratitude to four members of the scientific community who formed a consultative advisory panel during the lifetime of the RESET project: Professor Barbara Wohlfarth (Stockholm University), Professor Jørgen Peder Steffensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen), Dr. Martin Street (Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Neuwied) and Professor Clive Oppenheimer (Cambridge University). They provided excellent advice at key stages of the work, which we greatly valued. We also thank Jenny Kynaston (Geography Department, Royal Holloway) for construction of several of the figures in this paper, and Debbie Barrett (Elsevier) and Colin Murray Wallace (Editor-in-Chief, QSR) for their considerable assistance in the production of this special volume.Peer Reviewe

Gender-Specific Effects of Unemployment on Family Formation: A Cross-National Perspective

This paper investigates the impact of unemployment on the propensity to start a family. Unemployment is accompanied by bad occupational prospects and impending economic deprivation, placing the well-being of a future family at risk. I analyze unemployment at the intersection of state-dependence and the reduced opportunity costs of parenthood, distinguishing between men and women across a set of welfare states. Using micro-data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), I apply event history methods to analyze longitudinal samples of first-birth transitions in France, Finland, Germany, and the UK (1994-2001). The results highlight spurious negative effects of unemployment on family formation among men, which can be attributed to the lack of breadwinner capabilities in the inability to financially support a family. Women, in contrast, show positive effects of unemployment on the propensity to have a first child in all countries except France. These effects prevail even after ontrolling for labour market and income-related factors. The findings are pronounced in Germany and the UK where work-family conflicts are the cause of high opportunity costs of motherhood, and the gender-specific division of labour is still highly traditional. Particularly among women with a moderate and low level of education, unemployment clearly increases the likelihood to have a first child

Tspan8 is expressed in breast cancer and regulates E-cadherin/catenin signalling and metastasis accompanied by increased circulating extracellular vesicles

Tspan8 exhibits a functional role in many cancer types including pancreatic, colorectal, oesophagus carcinoma, and melanoma. We present a first study on the expression and function of Tspan8 in breast cancer. Tspan8 protein was present in the majority of human primary breast cancer lesions and metastases in the brain, bone, lung, and liver. In a syngeneic rat breast cancer model, Tspan8$^{+}$ tumours formed multiple liver and spleen metastases, while Tspan8$^{-}$ tumours exhibited a significantly diminished ability to metastasise, indicating a role of Tspan8 in metastases. Addressing the underlying molecular mechanisms, we discovered that Tspan8 can mediate up‐regulation of E‐cadherin and down‐regulation of Twist, p120‐catenin, and β‐catenin target genes accompanied by the change of cell phenotype, resembling the mesenchymal–epithelial transition. Furthermore, Tspan8$^{+}$ cells exhibited enhanced cell–cell adhesion, diminished motility, and decreased sensitivity to irradiation. As a regulator of the content and function of extracellular vesicles (EVs), Tspan8 mediated a several‐fold increase in EV number in cell culture and the circulation of tumour‐bearing animals. We observed increased protein levels of E‐cadherin and p120‐catenin in these EVs; furthermore, Tspan8 and p120‐catenin were co‐immunoprecipitated, indicating that they may interact with each other. Altogether, our findings show the presence of Tspan8 in breast cancer primary lesion and metastases and indicate its role as a regulator of cell behaviour and EV release in breast cancer