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Plants at the Earth’s surface take in large volumes of CO2 (carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and use the carbon from the CO2 to build stems, leaves, and roots. In the subsurface, CO2 has been naturally stored in geologic deposits for millions of years, just like oil and natural gas. Every day in the United States, large volumes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) are transported by pipeline and injected into underground layers to help produce additional oil.
Building on these natural and commercial models, CO2 sequestration, the long-term storage of CO2 either in underground geologic reservoirs or in plants and soils, is emerging as a major strategy to help address climate change concerns. But to be successful, CO2 sequestration projects need to take regional characteristics into account.
The Plains CO2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership, a collaboration of over 80 U.S. and Canadian stakeholders, is laying the groundwork for practical and environmentally sound CO2 sequestration projects in the heartland of North America. Currently, the PCOR Partnership Program features three small-scale geologic CO2 sequestration projects and is developing multiyear, commercial-scale demonstration projects. In addition, the PCOR Partnership is helping to determine "best practices" for carbon sequestration in the landscapes of the northern Great Plains.
The PCOR Partnership is led by the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota and is one of seven regional partnerships under the National Energy Technology Laboratory's (NETL's) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Program. NETL and RCSP are part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Resources (Fossil Energy).
PCOR Partnership Phase III Announced!
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