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Geophysical Monitoring of Anthropic Underground Operations in Italy: An Operative Center for Risk Mitigation.

Description: 

Following the deadly M≈6 earthquakes that struck the Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy) in May 2012, public concern raised whether those shocks could have been triggered by the nearby activities of oil and gas production and storage. In response to that concern, in 2014 and 2016 the Italian Oil & Gas Safety Authority (DGS-UNMIG) issued guidelines (ILG) regulating procedures, responsibilities and roles in the monitoring of georesources exploitation, specifically hydrocarbon exploitation, waste-water injection, natural gas storage and geothermal energy production. The ILG define standards for the monitoring of pore pressure, microseismicity and ground deformation and guide the application of a four-stage traffic light protocol (actually applied exclusively for reinjection of waste water), depending on location, magnitude, and peak ground motion of the recorded seismicity. Within this framework, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) instituted in 2017 the Center for the Monitoring of Subsoil Activities (CMS), as the structure dedicated to the collection, analysis, interpretation and modeling of data associated with the anthropic exploitation of georesources. We present the structure and operating principles of the CMS, its IT architecture, and the organization of the monitoring procedures. Such principles were designed for delivering reliable products supporting the decision tools adopted by authorities for risk management. We also discuss the main criticalities thus far emerged, which concern: [1] the unbiased assessment of background seismicity when pre-existing, nearby active plants are already in operation; [2] the discernment between tectonic and triggered seismicity, in case the monitored activity is located in a tectonically active region (as mostly happens in Italy); [3] the robust evaluation of uncertainties in all the monitored parameters; [4] the possible overlapping between the attention areas of adjacent reservoirs, possibly operated by different subjects; [5] The procedures to be adopted for activities (namely: CO2 storage) not yet foreseen by the ILG.

Session: Seismic Monitoring, Modelling and Management Needed for Geothermal Energy and Geologic Carbon Storage - I

Type: Oral

Date: 5/2/2024

Presentation Time: 08:15 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Gilberto

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Authors