Bureau Researchers Present Salt Cavern Hydrogen Storage Research at 2024 EAGE Annual Meeting

Bureau researchers presented at the 85th Conference and Exhibition of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) in Oslo, Norway. Nur Schuba and Ander Martinez-Doñate gave three talks on research associated with current GeoH₂ and State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery (STARR) program activities. 

GeoH₂, a Bureau research consortium, conducts research to facilitate and advance the development of a hydrogen economy at scale, and the STARR mission is to conduct geoscience and engineering research to increase the production and profitability of earth resources within the State of Texas.

During the conference, Schuba presented work on subsurface hydrogen storage exploration methods applicable to human-made cavern placement in salt domes, with emphasis on salt structures along the Gulf Coast of the United States. Schuba also numbered among the panelists during the “Decarbonization and Energy Transition” panel discussion. 

Martinez-Doñate presented work on the characterization of shallow- and deepwater evaporitic sequences in the Permian Basin of West Texas. He also discussed the integration of geological, engineering, and technoeconomic assessment of subsurface hydrogen storage in salt formations in West Texas. 

As the hydrogen economy slowly evolves, subsurface hydrogen storage in salt caverns will play an important role as part of this new value chain. The GeoH₂ and STARR teams, including Schuba and Martinez-Doñate, are advancing our understanding of subsurface hydrogen storage. The teams are creating new tools and workflows that apply to a variety of case studies, including the salt units of the Zechstein Group in Europe, the upper Permian Castile and Salado Formations from West Texas, and the Louann Salt of the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Louann Salt research, specifically, will better inform current efforts in demonstration projects such as the HyVelocity Hub project in which UT Austin is currently a partner. 

For additional information on research or joining these research programs, please contact Lorena Moscardelli.