Technical Documentation: The Economics of CO2 Transport by Pipeline Storage in Saline Aquifers and Oil Reserves

Large reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel use will be required to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of CO2 [1-5]. One option to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from large industrial sources— particularly fossil-fuel fired power plants—is carbon capture and storage (CCS); i.e., the capture of CO2 directly from anthropogenic sources and disposal of it in geological sinks for significant periods of time [6]. CCS requires CO2 to first be captured and compressed to high pressures, then transported to a storage site, where it is injected into a suitable geologic formation. Each of these steps—capture, transport, and storage—is capital and energy intensive, and will have a significant impact on the cost of production for electricity or other industrial commodities produced using CCS. However, with appropriate policy incentives, CCS could act as a potential “bridging technology” that would achieve significant CO2 emission reductions while allowing fossil fuels to be used until alternative energy sources are more widely deployed.