Skip to main content

Joule II Project Paper: An overview of the underground disposal of carbon dioxide

Publisher
British Geological Survey (BGS)
Updated
28 August 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

The underground disposal of industrial quantities of CO2 is entirely feasible. Cost is the main barrier to implementation. The preferred concept is disposal into porous and permeable reservoirs capped by a low permeability seal, ideally, but not necessarily, at depths of around 800 metres or more, where the CO2 will be in a dense phase. New concepts and refined reservoir models are continually emerging. As more regional estimates are carried out it appears that there will be ample underground storage capacity in the worlds sedimentary basins. Storage will be stable over geological timescales. The (remote) possibility of an escape of CO2 from a storage reservoir onshore merits further investigation and modelling. It would be highly desirable to learn as much as possible from the operators of the new CO2 disposal schemes arising from natural gas processing in offshore gas fields, as few such opportunities may arise. doi:10.1016/S0196-8904(96)00268-3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890496002683

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Resource locator 28/8/2026
doi:10.1016/S0196-8904(96)00268-3 28/8/2026

Is this data useful? Give us feedback

Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
28 August 2026
Harvest GUID
1c7a5976-8e09-106b-e054-002128a47908
Dataset reference date (publication)
1997
Frequency of update
notApplicable
Access constraints
The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.
Responsible party
British Geological Survey (author, distributor, pointOfContact, principalInvestigator)
ISO 19139 resource type
nonGeographicDataset
Metadata language
eng

Contact

Enquiries

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

Freedom of information (FOI) requests

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests