North American Carbon Storage Atlas

Project description:

Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated to produce an atlas of North America that identifies major stationary sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and potential geological storage reservoirs for CO₂. The atlas will be used to develop a comprehensive understanding of the potential for carbon capture and storage in North America. To map the CO₂ sources and geological storage reservoirs, the three countries agreed on a common methodology for estimating geological reservoir capacities, an appropriate scale and resolution for the data, a data-sharing protocol, and a process for treating common cross-border areas. The project was initiated as the North American Carbon Atlas Partnership under the North American Energy Working Group but has since been expanded under the U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue.

Outcomes:

The project facilitated the gathering and sharing of data on stationary CO₂ sources and storage reservoirs among the three countries in support of a uniform geographic information system. It accomplished the objective of creating a common portal, where data from different states, provinces or organizations in the three countries can be accessed in a similar format. Having a common methodology for estimating capacity was particularly relevant for cross-border reservoirs. The atlas was published both in paper and online in May 2012.

Proponent and partners’  profiles:

Find out more: