The Carbon Sequestration Program’s vision statement has guided the growth of sequestration as a research focus area: “to possess the scientific understanding of carbon sequestration options and provide cost-effective, environmentally sound technology options that ultimately lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas intensity and stabilization of overall atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.”

At the Program’s onset in 1997, NETL scientists, working in concert with collaborators from academia, industry, other government agencies and National Laboratories, developed a series of milestones necessary to achieve the rapid evolution of carbon capture and sequestration science from infancy to maturity. By 2012, the Program seeks to have the results from pilot-scale operations integrated to demonstrate a combination of CO₂ capture, permanent storage, and cost competitive technologies. By 2020, large-scale units are projected to come on-line, following validation tests, design, and construction. 

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The Carbon Sequestration Program Goal, driving all NETL carbon sequestration research, is:
“By 2012, develop fossil fuel conversion systems that offer 90% CO₂ capture with 99% storage permanence at less than a 10% increase in the cost of energy services.”

To attain this goal, the following milestones/interim goals have been established:

• By 2007, initiate Deployment Phase of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships.
• By 2007, identify capture technologies that increase the cost of energy services by less than 20% for pre-combustion systems, and less than 45% for post-combustion and oxy-combustion systems.
• By 2008, develop monitoring, mitigation, and verification (MM&V) protocols that enable 95% of stored CO₂ to be credited as net emissions reduction.
• By 2009, complete Validation Phase of Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships.
• By 2011, initiate at least one large-scale demonstration of CO₂ storage in a geologic formation.