Advancements in Geochemistry and Geomicrobiology of Energy Resources (AGGER)
The AGGER project’s purpose is to advance the understanding of geologic energy sources, generation, composition, movement, and production potential, including resource recovery from energy wastes.
This purpose manifests in three broad objectives:
- Assessing subsurface microorganisms in order to stimulate or retard biogenic gas production;
- Linking macroscale geologic energy phenomena (e.g., petroleum recoverability or carbon sequestration) to nanoscale parameters (e.g., pore accessibility); and
- Developing standardized approaches to evaluate both the resource potential and environmental risks of energy related wastes.
Achieving these objectives relates to the DOI Strategic Objective 3.2 Current Energy Needs Are Met Through Balanced Resource Use, and informs Congress, State and Federal agencies, private organizations, and the public on the U.S. energy endowment.
The AGGER project is currently divided into 7 research tasks, detailed below, and funds three research laboratories.
- Controls on microbial methanogenesis in shale deposits and strategies for enhancement - Task leads: Elliott Barnhart and Matthew Varonka
- Structure and composition of energy materials - Task lead: Aaron Jubb
- NORM products, byproducts and wastes from energy resource life cycles - Task lead: Bonnie McDevitt
- Spectroscopic investigations of energy materials - Task lead: Aaron Jubb
- Remote sensing techniques to quantify energy resources in wastes at abandoned mines - Task lead: Bernard Hubbard
- Scoping innovative approaches in advanced field measurements and data analysis - Task lead: Elisha ‘Eli’ Moore
- Assessing critical minerals and contaminants in coal mine drainage - Task lead: Bonnie McDevitt
The following 3 laboratories are associated with the AGGER project:
- Eastern Energy and Environmental Laboratory (EEEL)
- Raman Spectroscopy Laboratory (RSL)
- Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material Laboratory (NORM)
The data releases listed below are associated with the AGGER project.
Fluorescence spectroscopy of ancient sedimentary organic matter via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)
Injection of Deuterium and Yeast Extract at USGS Birney Field Site, Powder River Basin, Montana, USA, 2016-2020
Input Files and Code for: Machine learning can accurately assign geologic basin to produced water samples using major geochemical parameters
Combined Occurrence Frequency of Wind Speeds and Precipitation Amounts Conducive to Dust Dispersion from Disturbed Mine and Mill Sites in the United States, 2007?16
Nanoscale Molecular Composition of Solid Bitumen from the Eagle Ford Group Across a Natural Thermal Maturity Gradient
The publications listed below are associated with the AGGER project.
Mapping ancient sedimentary organic matter molecular structure at nanoscales using optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy
A global perspective on bacterial diversity in the terrestrial deep subsurface
Assessment of resource potential from mine tailings using geostatistical modeling for compositions: A methodology and application to Katherine Mine site, Arizona, USA
Relating systematic compositional variability to the textural occurrence of solid bitumen in shales
Geoenvironmental model for roll-type uranium deposits in the Texas Gulf Coast
Maturation study of vitrinite in carbonaceous shales and coals: Insights from hydrous pyrolysis
A novel method for conducting a geoenvironmental assessment of undiscovered ISR-amenable uranium Resources: Proof-of-concept in the Texas Coastal Plain
Dissolved organic matter within oil and gas associated wastewaters from U.S. unconventional petroleum plays: Comparisons and consequences for disposal and reuse
Evaluating aromatization of solid bitumen generated in the presence and absence of water: Implications for solid bitumen reflectance as a thermal proxy
Methanogenic archaea in subsurface coal seams are biogeographically distinct: An analysis of metagenomically-derived mcrA sequences
A methodology to assess the historical environmental footprint of in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium: A demonstration in the Goliad Sand in the Texas Coastal Plain, USA
Subsurface hydrocarbon degradation strategies in low- and high-sulfate coal seam communities identified with activity-based metagenomics
The AGGER project’s purpose is to advance the understanding of geologic energy sources, generation, composition, movement, and production potential, including resource recovery from energy wastes.
This purpose manifests in three broad objectives:
- Assessing subsurface microorganisms in order to stimulate or retard biogenic gas production;
- Linking macroscale geologic energy phenomena (e.g., petroleum recoverability or carbon sequestration) to nanoscale parameters (e.g., pore accessibility); and
- Developing standardized approaches to evaluate both the resource potential and environmental risks of energy related wastes.
Achieving these objectives relates to the DOI Strategic Objective 3.2 Current Energy Needs Are Met Through Balanced Resource Use, and informs Congress, State and Federal agencies, private organizations, and the public on the U.S. energy endowment.
The AGGER project is currently divided into 7 research tasks, detailed below, and funds three research laboratories.
- Controls on microbial methanogenesis in shale deposits and strategies for enhancement - Task leads: Elliott Barnhart and Matthew Varonka
- Structure and composition of energy materials - Task lead: Aaron Jubb
- NORM products, byproducts and wastes from energy resource life cycles - Task lead: Bonnie McDevitt
- Spectroscopic investigations of energy materials - Task lead: Aaron Jubb
- Remote sensing techniques to quantify energy resources in wastes at abandoned mines - Task lead: Bernard Hubbard
- Scoping innovative approaches in advanced field measurements and data analysis - Task lead: Elisha ‘Eli’ Moore
- Assessing critical minerals and contaminants in coal mine drainage - Task lead: Bonnie McDevitt
The following 3 laboratories are associated with the AGGER project:
- Eastern Energy and Environmental Laboratory (EEEL)
- Raman Spectroscopy Laboratory (RSL)
- Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material Laboratory (NORM)
The data releases listed below are associated with the AGGER project.
Fluorescence spectroscopy of ancient sedimentary organic matter via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)
Injection of Deuterium and Yeast Extract at USGS Birney Field Site, Powder River Basin, Montana, USA, 2016-2020
Input Files and Code for: Machine learning can accurately assign geologic basin to produced water samples using major geochemical parameters
Combined Occurrence Frequency of Wind Speeds and Precipitation Amounts Conducive to Dust Dispersion from Disturbed Mine and Mill Sites in the United States, 2007?16
Nanoscale Molecular Composition of Solid Bitumen from the Eagle Ford Group Across a Natural Thermal Maturity Gradient
The publications listed below are associated with the AGGER project.