Carbon Dioxide Sequestration

October 2008, Vol. 4, No. 5

Storage of carbon in the subsurface involves introduction of supercritical CO2 into rock formations beneath the surface of the Earth, typically at depths of 1000 to 4000 meters. Although CO2 is a relatively benign substance, the volume being considered is large. If developed to its envisaged potential, geologic sequestration will entail the pumping of CO2 into the ground at roughly the rate we are extracting petroleum today. To have the desired impact on the atmospheric carbon budget, CO2 must be efficiently retained underground for hundreds of years. Any underground storage system will have to account for the natural characteristics of subsurface formations; some are advantageous for storage while others are not. When foreign materials are emplaced in subsurface rock formations, they change the chemical and physical environment. Understanding and predicting these changes are essential for determining how the subsurface will perform as a storage container. The specific scientific issues that underlie sequestration technology involve the effects of fluid flow combined with chemical, thermal, mechanical, and biological interactions between fluids and surrounding geologic formations. Complex and coupled interactions occur both rapidly as the stored material is emplaced underground, and gradually over hundreds to thousands of years. The long sequestration times needed for effective storage and the intrinsic spatial variability of subsurface formations provide challenges to both geoscientists and engineers. A fundamental understanding of mineralogical and geochemical processes is integral to this success.

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