Maturing global CO(2) storage resources on offshore continental margins to achieve 2DS emissions reductions

Most studies on CO(2) emissions reduction strategies that address the ‘two-degree scenario’ (2DS) recognize a significant role for CCS. For CCS to be effective, it must be deployed globally on both existing and emerging energy systems. For nations with large-scale emissions, offshore geologic CO(2) storage provides an attractive and efficient long-term strategy. While some nations are already developing CCS projects using offshore CO(2) storage resources, most geographic regions have yet to begin. This paper demonstrates the geologic significance of global continental margins for providing broadly-equitable, geographically-relevant, and high-quality CO(2) storage resources. We then use principles of pore-space utilization and subsurface pressure constraints together with analogs of historic industry well deployment rates to demonstrate how the required storage capacity can be developed as a function of time and technical maturity to enable the global deployment of offshore storage for facilitating 2DS. Our analysis indicates that 10–14 thousand CO(2) injection wells will be needed globally by 2050 to achieve this goal.