PPT Slide
Long-term storage of CO2 in underground geologic formations has the potential to be viable in the near-term. Many power plants and other large point sources of CO2 emissions are located near geologic formations that are amenable to CO2 storage. Further, in many cases injection of CO2 into a geologic formation can enhance the recovery of oil and gas which can offset the cost of CO2 capture.
The use of CO2 to enhance oil and gas recovery is a common industrial practice. In the year 2000 in the United States, 34 million tons of CO2 were injected underground as a part of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and coal bed methane recovery (E-CBM) operations. This is approximately equivalent to the CO2 emissions from 6 million cars in one year. Research and development in this area will move the technology forward to make it applicable to a wider range of formations.