1 / 12

Seep Tents Masters Project

Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Seep Tents Masters Project. Fall Presentation. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Group Members & Advisors. Ali Ger, Misty Gonzales, Erin Mayberry, Farah Shamszadeh Christopher Costello, Natalie Mahowald Spring: Mel Willis.

keiji
Download Presentation

Seep Tents Masters Project

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Seep Tents Masters Project Fall Presentation

  2. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Group Members & Advisors • Ali Ger, Misty Gonzales, Erin Mayberry, Farah Shamszadeh • Christopher Costello, Natalie Mahowald • Spring: Mel Willis

  3. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Background • Unique geological formations allow natural gas, other hydrocarbons, and oil to seep from the ocean floor in the SB channel

  4. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Study Area Maps courtesy of the UCSB Hydrocarbon Seeps Project http://seeps.geol.ucsb.edu/ Area studied by the UCSB Hydrocarbon Seeps Research Group

  5. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Background • In 1982, ARCO installed 2 concrete and steel pyramids to capture the gas • These are the only tents in the world • The tents are currently operated by Venoco, Inc.

  6. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Background • Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District is exploring additional seep tents as a method to reduce hydrocarbon emissions • Gas emitted is 90% methane • The seeps are considered a natural source of air pollution by the county

  7. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Purpose of our project • Methane is a potent global warming agent • Captured methane is an energy source APCD and other stakeholders are interested in tents • Seep VOCs create air pollution • Should more seep tents be installed?

  8. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Research Question • Is it environmentally advantageous to install additional seep tents to capture naturally released hydrocarbons? Further, is it economically and legally feasible to install additional seep tents?

  9. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Scope • Four areas of research: • Economic practicality • Legal feasibility • Water quality & ecologic impacts • Air quality & climate impact

  10. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Important Issues • Seep rates have been declining • Natural variation in seep location and rates • Uncertain regulations regarding additional tents • Future natural gas prices are uncertain, makes revenues uncertain

  11. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Final Project Report • We will deliver a final document detailing our findings and recommendations for additional seep tent installation by April, 2002 • The report will provide valuable information on the question of whether or not more tents should be installed

  12. Questions? Thank you for your feedback

More Related