What may be the consequences of a CO 2 leakage? Insights from soil gas measurements in an urban area – Clermont-Ferrand, French Massif Central

Frédérick Gal (1) , Eric Proust (1) , Gaëtan Bentivegna (1) , Steve Leconte (1) , Louis de Lary de Latour (1) , Annick Loschetter (1) , Zbigniew Pokryszka (2) , Bernard Collignan (3)

1 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
2 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
3 CSTB - Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment

This project is aimed to better constrain the geographical distribution of CO 2 geological emanations in an urban context and to suggest recommendations for risk management. Natural emanations may have some similarities with emissions from an anthropogenic deep storage site that experiences unexpected gas releases. Such gas emanations may generate hazards to which local authorities have to face, especially those concerning human exposure. In 2015, the Regional Bureau of Environment, Physical Planning and Housing from the Auvergne District (DREAL) and the Clermont-Ferrand Urban Community (CLERMONT-CO) have co-financed site investigations to better characterize gas emanations over selected territories (7 cities) and to establish guidelines for the management of associated risks. Work has been done under the coordination of the Regional Prefecture. Located in the Northern part of the French Massif Central, the Clermont-Ferrand city is a populated city (c.a. 140 000 inhabitants) that is located mostly over quaternary volcanic rocks belonging to a former maar structure. To the East, volcanic rocks are progressively replaced by continental formations belonging to the Tertiary graben of Limagne. The limit between sedimentary domain and basement/volcanic domain is underlined by deep-rooted normal faults along which several well-known mineral springs are emplaced.

Domains: Earth Sciences

Frédérick Gal, Eric Proust, Gaëtan Bentivegna, Steve Leconte, Louis de Lary de Latour, et al.. What may be the consequences of a CO 2 leakage? Insights from soil gas measurements in an urban area – Clermont-Ferrand, French Massif Central. GHGT-13, 13th International conference on greenhouse gas control technologies, Nov 2016, Lausanne, Switzerland. p. 3006-3019, ⟨10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1429⟩. ⟨hal-01325614⟩