Carbon Sequestration

Fueled by the increase of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere attributed by many climate scientists to the activities of man governments worldwide, including the United States, have mobilized to examine ways to decrease the emission of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere from anthropogenic sources.

The growing interest of government and industry in the storage of CO2 stems from the fact that increasing amounts of the gas are largely the consequence of burning carbon fuels for energy. In the United States, 98 percent of carbon dioxide is emitted as the result of the combustion of fossil fuels; consequently, carbon dioxide emissions and energy use are highly correlated.

For this reason IOGCC formed a Geological CO2 Sequestration Task Force, which has been examining the technical, policy and regulatory issues related to safe and effective storage of CO2 in the subsurface (depleted oil and natural gas fields, saline formations and coal beds).

The Commission has extensively researched an opportunity to mitigate the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. Carbon capture and geological storage capturing carbon dioxide before it is released into the atmosphere and storing it in underground geologic formations is a promising option.