Pennsylvania plans to invest $6 million in a carbon capture research facility, as was announced by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
The research and storage facility is intended to house subsurface core samples and drill cuttings from all across the state that the department has collected over the years.
Said samples are necessary to help further research into the use of Pennsylvania’s underground geologic formations and determine, among other things, their potential to mitigate the climate crisis by permanently storing CO2.
The existing storage area showcases a variety of samples that are available to the public and are the basis for the research by a whole range of entities, including energy companies, government agencies and universities.
Hence, as shared by DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, the $6 million investment that Pennsylvania is about to make will greatly help carbon capture and other research, as well as the decision making that relies on such research.
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Core samples look like elongated pieces of rock that reveal the chemical and physical characteristics of rock formations.
The core samples featured in DCNR’s Geological Survey also include such that have been obtained from both oil and gas-bearing and other formations all over the state.
However, the current library has only a limited amount of space and the new investment provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania budget will finance construction of a new core storage facility.
“The new rock sample library will more than double the department’s current capacity to store, catalog and analyze subsurface rock samples collected throughout the state for focused research on the state’s subsurface geology,” DCNR Bureau of Geological Survey Director Gale Blackmer said.
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