University of Alberta – Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

The Reservoir Geomechanics Research Group is a dynamic team of HQP from around the globe. Known as [RG]2 (“RG-squared”), the team’s research is carried out in their completely integrated GeoInnovation Environments (GIEs), unique research facilities that allow their international team to carry out cutting-edge research using state-of-the-art equipment. The senior research team also provides reservoir geomechanical expertise in reservoir simulation, reservoir surveillance design and implementation, field services including core preservation and transport, instrumentation design, and experimental programs. Many future energy technologies will either directly or indirectly depend on the effective, safe use of the subsurface for either permanent and/or intermittent storage. GeoSAFETY will explore issues and challenges with using the subsurface as a deep geological repository for CCUS, geothermal energy, and hydrogen, as well as intermittent storage associated with wind and solar renewables. The establishment of the GeoSAFETY initiative within the Reservoir Geomechanics Research Group – [RG]2 – represents a unique, integrated, multidisciplinary university research laboratory environment that will enable breakthroughs in their understanding of constitutive material behaviour and their ability to simulate their complex reservoir geomechanical behaviour during subsurface energy production and energy storage. Innovation within GeoSAFETY seeks synergistic utilization of the subsurface pore space for both fluid (e.g., CO2, H2) and energy (e.g., wind, solar) storage as a practical short-to-medium term means of partially meeting ambitious global commitments to climate change mitigation and net-zero carbon emission policies.