Reserves and resources for CO2 storage in Europe: the CO2StoP project

The challenge of climate change demands reduction in global CO₂ emissions. In order to fight global warming many countries are looking at technological solutions to keep the release of CO₂ into the atmosphere under control. One of the most promising techniques is carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), also known as CO₂ geological storage. CCS can reduce the world’s total CO₂ release by about one quarter by 2050 (IEA 2008, 2013; Metz et al. 2005). CCS usually involves a series of steps: (1) separation of the CO₂ from the gases produced by large power plants or other point sources, (2) compression of the CO₂ into supercritical fluid, (3) transportation to a storage location and (4) injecting it into deep underground geological formations.