PubTalk 1/2011 — Capture and Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

Is Sequestration Necessary? Can We Do It at an Acceptable Total Cost?

By Yousif Kharaka, USGS National Research Program

• Combustion of fossil fuels currently releases approximately 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere annually
• Increased anthropogenic emissions have dramatically raised atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the last 100 years
• There is broad scientific consensus that global warming, and resulting climate changes, are caused mainly by increases in atmospheric CO2
• Geochemistry of CO2 sequestration: Recent results and remaining major technical and environmental challenges for successful geologic storage