Permanent shallow subsoil CO2 flux chambers for monitoring of onshore CO2 geological storage sites

Public concern over the possibility of migration of stored CO2 to the surface with resulting damage to vegetation or hazard to humans and animals is a matter which will need to be addressed to be able to satisfy likely regulatory requirements for onshore CO2 storage in a number of jurisdictions. While soil CO2 concentration is readily measured continuously and in situ with current technology, the measurement of CO2 flux at depths below the soil A horizon may be a more sensitive and meaningful technique for early detection of a near surface CO2 plume. We describe a system for the continuous measurement of soil CO2 flux at a depth of approximately 1.3 m and present results from three instruments deployed at the Otway Basin Pilot Project in Victoria, Australia and one development system deployed at Sutton, near the Australian Capital Canberra.