CCS bucket list: bring it on!

One of the challenges of our century is to mitigate the anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. Such task can only be achieved through the application of a portfolio of carbon sequestration solutions. Amongst them, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a methodology developed to capture waste CO2 for then storing it into a geological formation. How does CCS work? What are the differences between the several CCS strategies? How much CO2 can be trapped by CCS? This presentation addresses these questions, paying particular attention to carbon storage via Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), CO2 injection into deep-saline aquifers, and carbon mineralization. Also, on the base of natural analogues, geochemical reactions, and actual methodology deployment at a field scale (“Carbfix” method), it is shown how carbon mineralization represents the most stable option in the long-term. The importance of CO2 reduction is then compared to the current global application of CCS strategies, providing insights on CCS future implementations, which are essential to meet the goals set by the Paris Agreement.