WITHDRAWN: Global CO2 Storage Potential of Self‐Sealing Marine Sedimentary Strata

Abstract

AbstractInjection of CO2 below the seafloor into sedimentary strata where pressures and temperatures would trap the CO2 through “self‐sealing” gravitational and hydrate‐formation mechanisms has received little interest after analyses of a selection of deep‐sea sediment cores suggested that such storage would not likely be feasible. Attention with respect to offshore CO2 storage has since shifted to the possibility of injecting CO2 into sub‐seafloor basalt layers embedded within impermeable strata. Here we re‐examine the storage potential of self‐sealing marine sedimentary strata using a more comprehensive, global dataset of deep‐sea sediment cores, heat flow measurements, bathymetry, and sediment thickness maps. In contrast to previous reports, we find the CO2 storage potential of these strata to be abundant. We map out the worldwide distribution and thicknesses of self‐sealing marine sedimentary strata, which we estimate to have a total bulk sediment volume of 63 million cubic kilometers. Of this, roughly 1.3–2.7% may prove suitable for CO2 storage. This storage is unevenly distributed where it lies within the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the world's largest CO2 emitting economies. The United States and India respectively release 16% and 62% of their annual CO2 emissions (or 1 Bt/y and 800 Mt/y) within 500 km of self‐sealing strata located in their EEZs, while only 6% of the annual emissions from China and the European Union (or 330 Mt/y and 250 Mt/y, respectively) occur within this distance.