U.S. Projects Vast CO₂ Storage Potential

The U.S. has enough storage capacity to hold as much as 2.4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide in saline formations, oil and gas reservoirs, and unminable coal seams, a new report from the Department of Energy says. The resource could store hundreds of years’ worth of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, permanently preventing their release into the atmosphere, according to “The United States 2012 Carbon Utilization & Storage Atlas.” In 2009, Congress ordered a study of carbon sequestration resources around the U.S. Capturing CO₂ from large power and industrial plants and putting it to beneficial use or storing it in deep geologic formations is a key element in national efforts to mitigate climate change, the report notes. “Of particular importance is that over 225 billion metric tons of storage capacity has been identified in depleted oil and gas fields which could accommodate storage of several decades of emissions from stationary sources,” DOE says.