Concerns about anthropogenic increases in CO₂ and its potential influence on global warming have led to a number of proposals for the geologic sequestration of CO₂. Proposed methods include injecting the CO₂ into deep unmineable coal beds or using the CO₂ to enhance recovery of coal bed methane (CBM). This initial evaluation of geologic CO₂ sequestration in coal beds in Ohio is part of a U.S. DOE-funded project, the Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational dataBase (MIDCARB), which is looking at the feasibility and economics of geologic CO₂ sequestration in a five-state region.

Recently completed coal-resource projects in Ohio form the framework for the evaluation of coal beds for CO₂ sequestration. U.S. Geological Survey co-funded studies of the availability of the Middle Kittanning (No. 6) and the Upper Freeport (No. 7) coal beds in Ohio are the primary GIS datasets that will be used. Other existing GIS databases include the Ohio Geological Survey’s 1:24,000-scale bedrock geology GIS and 1:24,000-scale abandoned underground mine GIS, and the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Coal Resource Data System (NCRDS). Initial data products that will be generated for the assessment will include a structure contour map of the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian unconformity, a net coal thickness map, an overburden map of the Pennsylvanian and younger age sediments, and structure contour and isopach maps of the most significant coal beds in Ohio. Each of these products will be created in a GIS and used to assess the potential feasibility and economics of both coal bed methane and CO₂ sequestration.