Concept and objectives The ECO2 project sets out to assess the
risks associated with storage of CO2 below the seabed. Carbon
dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) is regarded as a key
technology for the reduction of CO2 emissions from power plants
and other industrial sources at the European and international
level. The EU will hence support a selected portfolio of
demonstration projects to promote, at industrial scale, the
implementation of CCS in Europe. Several of these projects aim
to store CO2 below the seabed. However, little is known about
the short-term and long-term impacts of CO2 storage on marine
ecosystems even though CO2 has been stored sub-seabed in the
North Sea (Sleipner) for over 14 years and for two year in the
Barents Sea (Snøhvit). Against this background, the proposed
ECO2 project will assess the likelihood of leakage and impact of
leakage on marine ecosystems. State-of-the art monitoring
techniques will be applied to detect and quantify the fluxes of
formation fluids, natural gas, and CO2 fr