CO2 Storage Areas

This map shows areas identified in the US where deep sedimentary formations appear to be suitable for long-term CO2 storage. These so-called saline aquifers are estimated to have a potential CO2 storage capacity for a few hundred years worth of US fossil fuel CO2 emissions at the current emissions rate.¹  Not all regions of the US have suitable underground geologies. For example, look at Georgia. Only the southeastern corner of the state has suitable underground geologies for CO2 storage. There are additionally suitable storage sites off the coast of Georgia, below the floor of the ocean. If CO2 were to be captured at power plants in other parts of Georgia, pipelines would need to be built to carry the CO2 to a suitable injection point in Southeastern Georgia or in another state.

This map is re-drawn from the National Carbon Storage Atlas, produced by the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP).² RCSP is a network of institutions supported by the US government to help develop the technology, infrastructure, and regulations to implement large-scale CO2 sequestration (storage) in different regions of the United States. The National Carbon Storage Atlas also shows the locations of oil and gas reservoirs and deep beds of unmineable coal. These areas may also be suitable for CO2 storage, but the total CO2 storage capacity of these categories is much smaller than for the deep saline aquifers shown in this graphic.

See the companion animation, CO2 Storage Areas, and the related video, Georgia: Coal and Carbon.