FluxLab

Welcome to the FluxLab! We are a team of 30 greenhouse gas measurement researchers, with a home base in beautiful Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Our team is headed by Dave Risk (PhD), Brian Mulroney Institute for Government Research Chair in Climate Science and Policy. We work in gas emissions measurement and data processing techniques, to quantify emissions in natural and industrial settings. We have been involved in ecological gas measurement projects from pole to pole, monitoring design for CO2 deep injection sites, but most of our work has focused on quantifying methane emissions from Canadian industry. In recent years we have made gas emission measurements at many thousands of oil and gas facilities across North America, both onshore and offshore, and at landfills from coast to coast. We are also working on air quality issues, wellbore leakage, and a large multi-technology regional methane observation initiative in Alberta called ReACH4. We work to create technologies, data, and insights needed by industry and regulators for managing greenhouse gas emissions.

Just returned from the #GHGT17 conference in Calgary, Canada—what an incredible week! Many thanks to the IEAGHG team for organizing such a dynamic event, packed with insightful talks, engaging oral presentations and poster sessions, and valuable networking opportunities. The conference reinforced a shared understanding: while CO2 capture, transport, and storage (#CCS) technologies are advancing, there’s a pressing need for government action to accelerate progress. Effective policies like carbon pricing and targeted subsidies for research and innovation are essential to scale these solutions. I had the opportunity to present FluxLab’s recent work in assurance monitoring—showcasing how our surface and shallow subsurface continuous monitoring sensors and algorithm-driven systems can detect potential surface impacts from CO2 migration at the SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Plant CCS site #Aquistore, managed by PTRC. Machine learning—one of the conference’s most talked-about topics—influences our approach, enhancing precision in source detection and reducing the likelihood of false positives, which in turn builds public trust in CCS. Thank you to everyone who attended my presentation and showed interest in our monitoring approach. If you’d like to know more, feel free to reach out! Another highlight of the conference was connecting with CCS monitoring leaders like Katherine Romanak from The University of Texas at Austin and Marcia Couëslan from Vault 44.01. One of the best aspects of a conference like this is meeting professionals from both within and beyond your field, each bringing unique perspectives to CCS. I’m grateful to the organizing committee for creating such a fantastic experience. #MachineLearning #CO2Storage #Sustainability #ClimateTech #EnergyTransition #EnvironmentalInnovation #NetZero #CleanEnergy #CarbonManagement #InnovationInCCS #PublicTrust

The Simulation Facility for Landfill Emission Experiments (SIMFLEX) is located near Sarnia Ontario / Detroit Michigan. We built it to help evaluate landfill methane emission measurement technologies, and to provide information for industry and regulators. Site characteristics: -Built on a 60 acre former landfill with excellent collection system -20 acre controlled release domain with about a dozen release elements -Several release elements mimic dispersed 'area-source' landfill emissions -Release capacity is large enough to test satellite detection -Ancillary wind measurement with ~9 sensors at either 2 m or 7 m height To date, the site and research experiments are entirely industry funded, via Environmental Research & Education Foundation. However, the experiments will benefit a much wider community, including regulators, policymakers, and anyone living or working near a landfill or experiencing the effects of climate change. David Risk and Tarek Abichou are co-PIs of the experimental program. Key people include Rafee Iftakhar Hossain, EIT (science/experiments engineer), Pylyp Buntov (site operations engineering), Yurii Dudak (instrumentation engineering), Elise Canning (communications), and Chelsie Hall (operations). Many other FluxLab members are also contributing. Next month we will be operating experiments for drones and walking tools for truck-mounted systems, continuous monitoring stations, and satellites. We have vendors / participants lined up in all categories from across North America, and beyond. For a report on last year's testing research, check out: https://lnkd.in/eE5vmUuR Importantly, we send many thanks to our fantastic business and administrative and research staff at St. Francis Xavier University! From safety and risk management, to industry liaison, to procurement, to the research office, and the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, this is a great place to get unusual things done in research. Like us, they always seem ready for a challenge. Without you we couldn't run complicated large-scale initiatives like this!

🌍 Let’s Connect at the EurAsia Waste Management Symposium! I’m excited to share that I’ll be attending the EurAsia Waste Management Symposium in Istanbul from October 21 to 23rd. I’ll be presenting on methane emissions in Canadian landfills and discussing how we can better control them with the right regulations—a study conducted by the FluxLab team and funded by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). 📅 Presentation Details: Session 4-A: Landfill Management Session Topic: Methane Emission Dynamics: A Comprehensive Measurement Study of Canadian Landfills 🕛 Time: 12:00, October 22, 2024 Want to know: What is the source of methane emissions in landfills? How emissions change with the seasons? How we can monitor and reduce landfill emissions? Come and see my presentation! I’d love to connect and chat about these topics. If you’re attending, please stop by and say hi—I’d be happy to talk! #EurasiaWasteManagement #MethaneEmissions #LandfillManagement #Networking #WasteManagement #methane #IWWG #ISTAC #YildizTechnicalUniversity

Join me at IEAGHG GHGT-17 in Calgary, Canada, where I will present FluxLab’s latest research on surface soil gas MMV at the SaskPower Boundary Dam Power Plant CCS project—Aquistore, overseen by PTRC. Date: Tuesday, October 22 Session: Tue C2 Time: 2:36 - 2:47 PM Location: ePoster Screen What will we discuss? As CCS expands globally, particularly in North America and Europe, its success depends not just on technological advances but also on public trust and collaboration, which effective MMV can help achieve. In my presentation, I’ll cover: • How baseline monitoring combined with near-surface soil gas MMV builds public confidence by identifying deviations from normal conditions. • Advancements in continuous sensor systems and algorithms that provide real-time leak detection, reduce costs, and improve stakeholder trust. 🔗 Feel free to connect or message me if you’d like to discuss the topic further or meet up during the conference. See you there! 👋 #GHGT17 #CarbonCapture #CCS #MMV #PublicTrust #Aquistore #ClimateAction #EnergyTransition

Next month we are again conducting research on methane measurement solutions for landfill sites, at the SIMFLEX facility in Petrolia, Ontario. This Friday (October 18) at noon EDT we are hosting a second webinar for participants and other interested stakeholders. For the upcoming experiments the following measurement solutions are of interest: - Surface Emission Monitoring (Drone or Walking) - Satellite Imaging - Trucks/Mobile - Remote Point Sensor Networks We are also accepting R&D applications from pre-commercial solutions in these categories. For those wanting to join the webinar, please contact Elise at ecanning@stfx.ca. Look forward to seeing you there! #methane #measurement #landfill Tarek Abichou Environmental Research & Education Foundation With many thanks to WM for hosting these important experiments

Wow!! It’s been fantastic to watch Eosense - Environmental Gas Monitoring flourish over the years.

Wow!!

Excited to be part of this project where we are going though the motions with real data. Although guidance documents in the frameworks and protocols are very detailed, there are also important decision points along the way where a human needs to apply judgement based on their understanding of the data. But they may lack a full understanding because of knowledge level or data compexity. For an emissions manager it might feel like walking along a sidewalk where the sidewalk disappears at moments. How best to jump across? We’re trying to develop streamlined decision-support approaches and appropriate statistical tools and tests for these moments, to step smoothly across these gaps.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the PTRC Annual General Meeting in Edmonton, where I presented FluxLab's updates on the surface soil gas Measurement, Monitoring and Verification (MMV) techniques at the SaskPower-owned Boundary Dam Power Plant Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project (Aquistore). The meeting covered a broad range of topics related to CCS, including dynamic modelling updates, seismic acquisition insights, geological influences, and the use of machine learning for MMV. My presentation focused on our soil gas monitoring program and proposed a partial shift from a "process-based" to a "risk-based" monitoring approach. This approach emphasizes continuous monitoring of the highest-risk elements, such as the injection and observation wells, utilizing advanced sensors and real-time data analysis algorithms (as seen in the illustration). By tracking factors like wind speed, direction, and atmospheric stability, we aim to pinpoint potential CO2 emission sources, such as wellheads, more precisely and establish an alarm system for prompt mitigation. Building on our past learnings, this shift will complement the existing MMV techniques, reduce the possibility of false-positive leakage indications, promote a more proactive strategy for managing potential CO2 migration pathways, and strengthen stakeholder confidence in CCS projects. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share our progress and for the insightful discussions that followed. Many thanks to PTRC for hosting such a fantastic event! #CCS #MMV #Aquistore #PTRC #SoilGasMonitoring #RiskBasedMonitoring