The Illinois State Geological Survey has been awarded nearly $995,000 over the next three years by the U.S. Department of Energy to create the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium Technology Training Center at the Urbana campus of the UI.
The ISGS was one of seven recipients approved for more than $8.4 million over the next three years in funding to develop regional sequestration technology training projects.
The funding will “facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technologies required for site development, operations, and monitoring of commercial carbon capture and storage projects,” according to a news release from the Department of Energy.
The training center will benefit the Illinois Basin region by providing curriculum, outreach and networking for carbon sequestration technology development, says Sallie E. Greenberg, assistant director of the Advanced Energy Technology Initiative.
“We are very excited to launch the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium Technology Transfer Center, which integrates ongoing ISGS carbon capture and storage research with learning opportunities for the University of Illinois academic community, professionals and industry throughout the Midwest and the nation,” Greenberg said. “Our goal is to make the University of Illinois a leader in geologic sequestration education by engaging learners through our scientific research.”
Founded in its modern form in 1905, the ISGS is the largest of the 50 state geological surveys. With research focused on environmentally responsible development of Illinois’ energy resources and on three-dimensional geological mapping, the ISGS is a major research contributor to the national and international drive to control carbon dioxide emissions.
The four state scientific surveys – the Illinois State Geological Survey, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, and the Illinois State Water Survey – comprise the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, brought under the auspices of the UI last year.
The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium was established in 2003 to study geologic sequestration potential in the Illinois Basin region and is currently leading a large-scale sequestration project in Decatur, Ill.
