Centre for Sustainable Subsurface Resources (CSSR)

The Centre for Sustainable Subsurface Resources (CSSR) is a new centre funded by NFR that aims to develop knowledge and technology applicable to the Norwegian continental shelf as we face a more sustainable future – a future that will including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, electrification, and CO₂ and hydrogen storage.  The centre is led by NORCE with UiB as a major partner, together with a range of international institutions, industry and technology providers.  Within UiB, GEO, Maths and Physics and Technology are the main departments involved in the centre.

CSSR will undertake subsurface-focused research that enables responsible and efficient management of remaining Norwegian petroleum resources and facilitates future CO2 and hydrogen storage.  It will combine new geological and petrophysical knowledge, advanced multi-physics models and retooled digital work methods to collaboratively tackle the broader challenges related to achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  CSSR will run for eight years and has a strong educational component, supporting over ten PhDs/postdocs as well as a number of researchers. 

The Centre is built around seven work packages that address knowledge needs related to subsurface understanding, digital reservoir management, sustainable re-use of depleted fields and data/workflow integration.  GEO's input is mainly in the centre's Work Packages 1 and 2 which focus on increased sub-surface understanding of sedimentological and structural heterogeneity and their impact on fluid flow and in H2/CO2 storage.  Rob Gawthorpe, Atle Rotevatn and Casey Nixon from GEO are involved in the centre which will fund several PhDs and a researcher over the first 5 years of operation.

GEO has been engaged in subsurface petroleum-related research for several decades, In the future, cutting-edge subsurface research will be behind CO₂ and hydrogen storage - research on geology and energy in the subsurface is therefore more important than ever. CSSR has precisely this as its focus, and will give a powerful boost to research that will take us from the petroleum age into a new era.