Carbon dioxide sequestration in deep-sea basalt

Abstract

Developing a method for secure sequestration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in geological formations is one of our most pressing global scientific problems. Injection into deep-sea basalt formations provides unique and significant advantages over other potential geological storage options, including (i) vast reservoir capacities sufficient to accommodate centuries-long U.S. production of fossil fuel CO₂ at locations within pipeline distances to populated areas and CO₂ sources along the U.S. west coast; (ii) sufficiently closed water-rock circulation pathways for the chemical reaction of CO₂ with basalt to produce stable and nontoxic (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺)CO₃ infilling minerals, and (iii) significant risk reduction for post-injection leakage by geological, gravitational, and hydrate-trapping mechanisms. CO₂ sequestration in established sediment-covered basalt aquifers on the Juan de Fuca plate offer promising locations to securely accommodate more than a century of future U.S. emissions, warranting energized scientific research, technological assessment, and economic evaluation to establish a viable pilot injection program in the future.

• climate change
• ocean crust
• climate mitigation
• fossil fuel emissions
• energy