During the past decade, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) has gained recognition amongst the broader global scientific community, as well as policymakers, as an important means of mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on climate change. Accompanying this has been rapid development of the underlying subsurface science and technology needed to make CCS a commercial reality. Since the mid-1990’s, a number of storage research and development projects, both commercial and small scale, have been undertaken worldwide. In the United States, led by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a network of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs) was put in place to help develop the technology, infrastructure, and regulations needed to implement large-scale CO2 storage in different regions and geologic formations. The overall experience represented by global field projects and other research shows that geologic storage of CO2 is technologically feasible in a number of different geologic environments; powerful tools have been developed to predict the behavior of CO2 in the reservoir, and a portfolio of tools with the potential for monitoring all aspects of storage projects has developed. Accompanying technological advances has been the resolution of many legal and regulatory issues surrounding geologic storage. In the U. S., regulations are now in place for the injection of CO2 for purposes of storage, and for accounting of CO2 emissions. Even though advances have been great, challenges remain. Further work is needed to assess the technical feasibility of CO2 storage across the spectrum of depositional environments, and other research needs include improved methods to manage pressure and detect and mitigate potential leakage. Technology advances alone are insufficient to enable broad global deployment of CCS. Of equal, if not greater, importance, are the legal, regulatory, and public acceptance challenges that must continue to be resolved.

Plenary Address
Tuesday Morning, 25 June

Chris D. Breeds, Subterra, Inc.

Dr. Breeds graduated from the University of Nottingham, UK with an honors degree in Mining Engineering and a PhD in Mining Rock Mechanics in 1976. He is a registered Professional Civil Engineer in the US and a Chartered Engineer–Mining in the UK. His broad experience includes: subsurface rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering; subsidence engineering; underground and surface blasting; shotcrete and concrete technology; feasibility studies and conceptual design for tunnel and mine facilities; mine and tunnel systems analysis; preparation of construction cost estimates, bid documents, and specifications; and project management for both private and government projects.  This broad technical expertise is complimented by management experience which includes incorporating and managing companies in the US, UK and Germany as well as managing large multidisciplinary groups involved in project work.

 History of the Mediterranean Sea to Dead Sea Canal Project and Current Concepts for Restoration of the Dead Sea and Lower Jordan River

The demise of the Dead Sea presents a unique opportunity for environmental restoration, as well as economic prosperity. Since the 1970’s the Dead Sea has lost a third of its surface area, and it continues to drop in depth by over a meter on average every year. This is a man-made problem due primarily to upstream water diversion and evaporation. The Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian Authority governments have all identified “Saving the Dead Sea” as an issue of national priority and a recently completed regional poll shows extensive, widespread public support for restoring the Lower Jordan River. The Mediterranean Sea to Dead Sea Project will benefit the region by providing:

1. Restoration of the historic seawater levels in the Dead Sea;
2. Water and infrastructure that can be used to begin restoration of the Lower Jordan River watershed;
3. A new water supply for both drinking and irrigation in the East and West Banks of the Jordan River;
4. A new electrical power supply for Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority;
5. Infrastructure (roads, dams, water distribution, and wastewater disposal);
6. New job opportunities for all participants; and
7. Natural resource protection.

The project will provide mutual long term benefits for Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians, with increased eco-tourism, cultural heritage site preservation and water and power for households, industry and agriculture. The Mediterranean Sea to Dead Sea Project is currently proposed as an alternate to the Red-Dead project that has been under study since the mid 1980’s.  This paper will present the historic development of the Med-Dead project, current concepts for water transmission, desalination, and Lower Jordan River restoration and a comparison of the Med-Dead and Red-Dead projects.

Plenary Address
Wednesday Morning, 26 June

Erik Eberhardt, University of British Columbia

Dr. Erik Eberhardt is a Professor of Rock Engineering and Director of the Geological Engineering program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is a registered professional engineer in the province of British Columbia. His early career included working for a number of open pit and underground mines in Canada followed by a 6 year period working in Switzerland at the ETH Zurich on a variety of rock slope and tunneling projects. He took up his current position at UBC in 2004 where he manages a large research group specializing in rock mass characterization, geotechnical monitoring and numerical modeling applied to mining, petroleum, tunneling, and rock slope engineering. He also continues to practice as a consulting engineer on international projects in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He has published over 125 technical papers and was named the 29th Canadian Geotechnical Society’s Colloquium speaker.

Improving our Understanding and Assessment of Deep-Seated Rock Slope Hazards through an Integrated Mapping, Monitoring and Modelling Approach

Globally, mountain regions are experiencing accelerated economic development in response to population growth, rising living standards and associated demands for increased mining and energy production. In the civil engineering sector,  the importance of rock slope hazard assessments has intensified in response to the heightened risk profiles associated with hydroelectric dam reservoir safety, energy development (e.g., pipelines), and urban expansion. In the mining sector, the depletion of shallower resources are pushing surface mine designs to consider pit slope heights in excess of 1000 m, challenging the industry’s collective experience. Together, the associated engineering challenges and economic/safety risks will require a transition in the state-of-the- art toward a more detailed accounting of the 3-D spatial and temporal complexity in ground conditions, responses and interactions that can adversely impact rock slope stability. This presentation will summarize results from recent research involving a number of rock slope hazard investigations in which field mapping (aided by LiDAR), monitoring (including InSAR), and state-of-the-art numerical modeling were integrated to minimize geological uncertainty and enable a more reliable interpretation of rock slope behavior to be incorporated into the engineering decision-making process.