The post-graduate Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University has been involved in CO2-related research since 1978. 

For around 8 years the Institute with funding from the DTI (then Dept. of Energy) was carrying out research on two aspects of CO₂ in relation to enhanced oil recovery. One project was to set up facilities and examine and model the miscibility and phase properties of CO₂ in relation to injection North Sea fields for EOR purposes.  A multiple contact PVT facility was set up which is still in use.  The other project active over 6 years was to examine the dissolution aspects of CO₂ in relation to EOR in the context of a WAG CO₂ process into calcareous cemented sandstones, a particular feature of North Sea fields.  Clearly CO₂ was not seen as a gas to be sequestered but as an effective gas injection fluid for EOR based on the current US experience.  The quality of research in the Institute has been recognised on a number of occasions.  In 2001 it was awarded an EC Research Infrastructure (European Infrastructure for Energy Reserve Optimisation, EIERO) to enable researchers from across Europe to send research visitors to make use of its multidisciplinary research facilities.  The award recognises the breadth of facilities available and the Institute’s enthusiasm to share these facilities and expertise with organisations across Europe.  In June 2000, the gas hydrate research group was successful in securing a Research Development Grant (€850 K) from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to establish a Centre for Gas Hydrate Research at Heriot-Watt University.  The Hydrate group have actively been pursuing CO₂ sequestration in the form of gas hydrates in marine sediments.  They have also been active in generating data and developing thermodynamic model for predicting gas solubility in formation water with the objective of injecting CO₂ in saline aquifer.  A feasibility study of the application of in-situ gasification to the extraction of Scotland’s coal, coupled with CO₂ sequestration has been proposed to the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).  The Institute is a member of CO2NET thematic network.