Geology & Geophysics PhD student, Chiara Marieni, attended the IEA GHG International CCS Summer School hosted by The University of Texas at Austin (USA), from July 6^th to 11^th, 2014. Chiara is a third year PhD student working on the off-shore basalts as unconventional reservoirs where permanently store the atmospheric CO₂.

The IEA GHG Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Summer School funded almost 50 students coming from all over the world to learn and discuss about the last geological strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The talks were extremely interesting and tried to cover all  aspects of the CCS chain: the capture of CO₂ at the power plant, the transport, the storage into several types of geological formations, the monitoring techniques, the international regulations, the public acceptance, and the economical estimations. Particular attention has been dedicated to the CCS-EOR, a relatively new strategy which involves the underground storage of CO₂ during the operations of oil recovery. The best part of the Summer School was being able to experience how the CO2 trapping works, through simple practical examples. Also, considering the variety of attendees’ background (geologist, economist, engineers, etc.), the questions at the end of each session were really stimulating. A highly recommended this Summer School for anyone working on carbon sequestration!