Storage of Carbon Dioxide in Offshore Sediments

Abstract

The battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the most dangerous consequences of climate change will be waged across multiple fronts, including efforts to increase energy efficiency; efforts to deploy nonfossil fuel sources, including renewable and nuclear energy; and investment in adaptation to reduce the impacts of the climate change that will occur regardless of the actions we take. But with more than 80% of the world’s energy coming from fossil fuel, winning the battle also requires capturing CO 2 from large stationary sources and storing that CO 2 in geologic repositories. Offshore geological repositories have received relatively little attention as potential CO 2 storage sites, despite their having a number of important advantages over onshore sites, and should be considered more closely.