China, North America, Europe’s North Sea and Australia have some of the best understood geological sites, says Global CCS Institute
Sleipner platform, Norway, was the worlds first site to store CO2 under the seabed (Pic: Statoil)
By Megan Darby
Geological sites suitable for storing carbon dioxide emissions are available in most parts of the world, according to data collated by an industry body.
China, Canada, US, UK, Norway and Australia have some of the best understood storage potential, the report by the Global CCS Institute showed. Others like Saudi Arabia and Russia are keeping the information close to their chests.
“The institute has always had a view that there is more than enough [storage space] out there,” said co-author Andrew Purvis. “This report is an attempt to bring together a lot of that work which has generally happened in-country.”
The Australia-based group hopes the information will prompt policymakers to consider the fledgling option for cutting their climate impact, while allowing for some continued use of fossil fuels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in its last round of reports that the cost of holding global warming to 2C would double without carbon capture and storage.
But the technology has been slow to take off, with high upfront costs and concerns about the risk of leakage.
Reviving Hercules: Can carbon capture give British industry a future?
A study published last month highlighted ways CO2 could react with saltwater to form an acidic solution that would erode its “host rocks”, creating leakage routes.
Purvis said it was “very important” to carry out thorough surveys before injecting CO2. He added that Norway’s Sleipner platform, which has been using CCS successfully for two decades, was “behaving as you would expect it to behave”.