Development of a Probabilistic Assessment Methodology for Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Storage

Climate Change, Anthropocene, & Associated Issues / Carbon Sequestration

Date posted: 02/28/10

This report defines and describes an assessment methodology for evaluation of the resource potential for storage of CO2 in the subsurface. Descriptions of assessment methods are available in the literature that address storage resources and capacities at a variety of scales, using a variety of storage mechanisms. The methodology presented in this report is intended for evaluations from the regional to subregional scale in which storage assessment units (SAUs) can be defined on the basis of common geologic and hydrologic characteristics. The resource that is assessed is the volume of pore space into which CO2 can be injected and retained for tens of thousands of years. The calculation of subsurface pore volume for potential CO2 storage has been described in a number of publications.