Carbon dioxide management is one of the defining challenges of the energy transition. Achieving deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions requires technologies capable of safely storing carbon dioxide at gigatonne scale while creating pathways for beneficial utilization and value generation. Our research advances the scientific and engineering foundations needed to deploy carbon dioxide utilization with confidence, efficiency, and long-term reliability.
SUETRI-A has played a leading role in the development of carbon dioxide storage science, with contributions spanning pore-scale flow physics, reservoir engineering, geomechanics, monitoring technologies, and storage security. For more than two decades, our research has sought to understand how pore-scale processes govern field-scale outcomes, providing the scientific basis for predicting the efficiency, permanence, and security of geological carbon storage. Through laboratory experimentation, microfluidics, advanced imaging, numerical simulation, and field-scale analysis, we develop predictive frameworks that connect fundamental mechanisms to reservoir-scale performance.
A hallmark of our research has been the investigation of multiphase flow and trapping processes that determine storage efficiency and permanence. We have contributed to the understanding of capillary trapping, residual trapping, dissolution trapping, and the coupled physical and chemical processes that influence long-term storage security. These efforts help establish the scientific basis for evaluating storage resources, optimizing injection strategies, and assessing risk across a wide range of geological environments.
Our work also encompasses carbon dioxide utilization, particularly through enhanced oil recovery (EOR), where carbon dioxide injection can simultaneously increase hydrocarbon recovery and provide a pathway for substantial subsurface carbon storage. Research in this area examines displacement efficiency, sweep improvement, phase behavior, reservoir management, and storage performance in active oil fields. By integrating carbon storage objectives with energy production, these systems provide important opportunities for large-scale deployment, operational learning, and near-term emissions reduction.
More recently, our research has expanded to include geospatial analysis and digital assessment of carbon storage resources. By integrating geological, infrastructure, and land-use datasets within advanced GIS frameworks, we develop improved estimates of technically and economically accessible carbon dioxide storage resources. These analyses help connect subsurface resource characterization with practical considerations such as source–sink matching, transportation networks, permitting constraints, and project economics. The resulting tools provide a more comprehensive basis for planning and scaling carbon dioxide injection.
As carbon management technologies continue to evolve, our research increasingly focuses on integrated approaches that combine storage, utilization, monitoring, and verification. We investigate how advances in subsurface characterization, geospatial analytics, digital technologies, machine learning, and predictive simulation improve decision-making and reduce uncertainty throughout the lifecycle of carbon storage projects. Our goal is to develop the scientific understanding and engineering tools needed to ensure that carbon dioxide storage and utilization become reliable, scalable, and economically viable components of a sustainable energy future. By linking fundamental observations with field application, we help bridge the gap between emerging technologies and meaningful impact.