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 CO (sub 2) at locations within pipeline distances to populated areas and CO (sub 2) sources along the U.S. west coast; (ii) sufficiently closed water-rock circulation pathways for the chemical reaction of CO (sub 2) with basalt to produce stable and nontoxic (Ca (super 2+) , Mg (super 2+) , Fe (super 2+) )CO (sub 3) infilling minerals, and (iii) significant risk reduction for post-injection leakage by geological, gravitational, and hydrate-trapping mechanisms. CO (sub 2) 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.