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Geologic Carbon Sequestration : Sustainability and Environmental Risk

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

Definition of Subject and Its Importance

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) is a combination of technologies that addresses climate change by directly reducing the net CO2 emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels as the main global primary energy source [1]. In CCS as commonly envisioned, CO2 will be captured from flue gases at point sources such as coal-fired power plants, compressed, transported by pipeline, and injected into deep geologic formations for permanent storage (i.e., geologic sequestration) (Fig. 1).

Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Sustainability and Environmental Risk. Figure 1
figure 756

Schematic of the carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) process (CO2CRC, http://www.co2crc.com.au/aboutccs/)

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Abbreviations

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS):

The capture of CO2 from fossil-fuel power plants and other industrial point sources and its injection through wells into deep geologic formations for permanent storage.

Consequence:

An impact arising from the occurrence of an event or process. For example, the consequence of high CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere is global warming.

Geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) = geologic CO2 storage (GCS):

The last step of CCS in which CO2 is injected through wells into deep subsurface formations for permanent storage.

Hazard:

A potential impact or consequence of an event or process. For example, high CO2 emissions are a hazard to climate because CO2 is a greenhouse gas.

Likelihood:

The probability or degree of potential for an event or process to occur. For example, the likelihood of CO2 emissions to increase is very high given population growth and worldwide increases in standard of living.

Risk:

The product of likelihood and consequence of an event or process. For example, the risk of climate change is very high because both the likelihood and the consequences are high.

Storage Resource (capacity):

Physical pore-space volume available for CO2 storage irrespective of economics or regulations.

Storage Reserve (capacity):

Pore-space volume available for CO2 storage including reductions accounting for economic, legal, environmental, and regulatory factors.

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Books and Reviews

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  • Wilson EJ, Gerard D (eds) (2007) Carbon capture and sequestration integrating technology, monitoring, and regulation, Blackwell Publishing, Ames, Iowa

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Acknowledgments

This entry greatly benefitted from suggestions and comments by my LBNL colleagues Karsten Pruess, Jens Birkholzer, and Preston Jordan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Dr. Curtis M. Oldenburg

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Correspondence to Curtis M. Oldenburg .

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    Robert A. Meyers

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Oldenburg, C.M. (2012). Geologic Carbon Sequestration : Sustainability and Environmental Risk. In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_200

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