Huge CO₂ Storage Potential In China

U .S. and Chinese researchers have found that China has enough underground geologic storage capacity to hold more than 100 years’ worth of the nation’s anticipated carbon dioxide output. A five-year study by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Rock & Soil Mechanics found most potential CO₂ storage sites are in deep saline formations, and 90% of existing large CO₂-generating power plants and industrial facilities are located within 100 miles of these formations. China is highly dependent on coal and fossil fuels and releases amounts of CO₂ similar to those emitted by the U.S. Currently, the report says, China has 1,620 large stationary CO₂ emissions sources, generating 3.8 billion metric tons of CO₂ per year, surpassing the U.S. stationary source emissions by more than 1 billion tons per year. Seventy percent of these Chinese facilities are electric utilities, followed by cement kilns, steel mills, refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial sources. The study found some 2,300 billion metric tons of CO₂ storage potential available in China.