Overview

• An international team led by IIASA estimates about 1,460 billion tonnes of CO2 can be safely and feasibly stored underground, roughly one‑tenth of prior assumptions.
• The assessment excludes formations judged risky or uneconomic, including sites beneath major population centers, seismic zones, and deep offshore reservoirs.
• The authors caution the storage ceiling could be reached by around 2200 and note the estimate does not account for future technological advances.
• Fully using the capacity could lower global temperatures by about 0.7C, with researchers urging prioritization for hard‑to‑abate sectors such as cement, aviation, and agriculture.
• Current CCS activity captures about one‑thousandth of annual emissions, while industry groups contend emerging options like basalt mineralization could expand storage.