UW Researchers Chart a Roadmap for Selecting Underground Gas Storage Sites

Researchers at the University of Wyoming have published a comprehensive review that presents a unified, "gas-aware" framework for evaluating subsurface storage sites for carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen (H₂) and natural gas.

Their article, "Subsurface storage of CO₂, H₂ and natural gas: A review of site-selection criteria and decision-support approaches," appears in the open-access journal Advances in Geo-Energy Research.

The article was written by Prince Duah, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering; Matthew Johnson, an associate research professional in the UW School of Energy Resources' (SER) Center for Economic Geology Research, who specializes in subsurface modeling and remote sensing; and Saman Aryana, Occidental Chair in Energy and Environmental Technologies and associate dean for the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

The publication addresses a critical challenge in emerging energy technologies, especially how to safely, economically and efficiently select geological storage sites tailored to the unique chemical and physical behaviors of different gases.

"Selecting a storage site is not only a geological question. It requires weighing geological, technical, environmental, economic and social criteria, while recognizing that carbon dioxide, hydrogen and natural gas each behave differently underground," Aryana says. "By combining multicriteria decision methods, spatial analysis, reservoir simulation and machine learning in a transparent framework, this work provides a roadmap for industry, regulators and communities to make better-informed, science-based decisions."

Selecting suitable underground storage -- whether in deep saline aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs or salt caverns -- requires balancing geological integrity, technical feasibility, environmental safeguards, economic viability and social acceptance. The paper synthesizes traditional multicriteria decision-making with advanced tools, such as geographic information systems spatial analysis, reservoir simulations and machine learning techniques for large-scale screening and uncertainty quantification and mitigation, moving away from one-size-fits-all geological models and directly incorporating the unique physical and chemical characteristics of specific gases into site evaluation and reservoir management.

"Prince led a broad synthesis spanning three gases, three storage settings and evolving analytical methods," Aryana says. "The paper reflects genuine cross-departmental collaboration, and the framework it presents gives developers, regulators and communities a common basis for comparing candidate storage sites while highlighting where future gas storage research is most needed."

A key finding of the article is that no single method is sufficient on its own. Robust site selection requires hybrid workflows that combine structured ranking, spatial screening and physics-based evaluation -- all while explicitly accounting for the unique behavior of each gas.

Additionally, the effectiveness of these approaches depends on high-quality data, transparent assumptions and seamless integration across different technical scales.

The authors emphasize that future research and deployment should prioritize expanded, large-scale hydrogen demonstrations -- particularly in deep saline aquifers and depleted reservoirs --alongside transparent decision frameworks that support broader strategic energy goals.

The work was supported by the Hydrogen Energy Research Center and the Mowry Shale initiative at SER.

To download the paper, go to https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.46690/ager.2026.06.08.