An International Priority

The nearly two dozen small-scale CO2 storage field verification tests taking place nationwide have been highly visible, and their success will likely impact future carbon storage projects, such as the largescale CO2 storage projects the partnerships are now initiating in their respective regions. The seven regional partnerships include more than 350 organizations, spanning 43 states and four Canadian provinces. Collectively, the partnerships represent regions encompassing 97 percent of coal-fired CO2 emissions, 97 percent of industrial CO2 emissions, 96 percent of the total land mass, and essentially all the geologic sequestration sites in the United States potentially available for carbon storage.

Carbon Capture and Storage Crucial for Mitigating Climate Change

Since 2008, significant progress has been made to address the recommendations on carbon capture and storage (CCS) made by the G8 leaders. Two years after the G8 leaders’ summit, participating governments have made substantial financial commitments, totaling over $26 billion in funding, in order to meet the G8 recommendations to launch 20 large-scale CCS projects by 2010. By 2020, the G8 leaders will facilitate the launch of between 19 and 43 large-scale CCS demonstration projects. According to the DOE, the information gained from these projects will further its efforts to develop a national assessment of CO2 storage capacity in deep geologic formations. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), and the Global CCS Institute, CCS is an essential technology that will reduce global emissions and help avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. Together with renewable energy technologies, nuclear energy and greater energy efficiency, CCS will contribute significantly to reducing and stabilizing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.