Vision and Framework for Strategy and Planning
Published August 2005

Also available:
PDF version of the full report

Order a hardcopy of this report from GCRIO Online Catalog.

Back to
Table of Contents

CCTP Goal 3: Capture and Sequester Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Fossil fuels will likely remain a mainstay of global energy production well into the 21st century. Transforming fossil fuel-based combustion systems into low or carbon-free energy processes would enable the continued use of the world’s plentiful coal and other fossil energy resources. Such a transformation would require further development and application of technologies to capture CO₂ and store it through safe and acceptable means, thus removing it permanently from the atmosphere. There are also large opportunities to remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere and sequester it on land or in oceans, including increased carbon storage through improved land-use, forest, and agricultural management practices; changes in products and materials; and other means. Two focus areas are important:

CO₂ Capture and Storage.

Advanced techniques are under development that could capture CO₂ from such sources as coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, hydrogen production facilities, and various high-emitting industrial processes. Carbon dioxide capture would be linked to geologic storage – permanent storage in geologic formations, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs, deep coal seams, saline reservoirs, or other deep injection reservoirs.

CO₂ Sequestration.

Land-based, biologically assisted means for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and sequestering it in trees, soils, or other organic materials have proven to be low-cost means for long-term carbon storage. Ocean sequestration may also play a role as a carbon “sink,” as science advances the understanding of its efficacy and the potential effects.