CARBON STORAGE TECHNICAL VIABILITY APPROACH (CS TVA) MATRIX: INTEGRATING MULTIPLE COMPONENTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE SCOPING

Carbon storage is an integral component of reducing CO₂ emissions. Research over the past two decades has developed workflows for volume assessments and economic project feasibility, providing necessary and useful tools to progress geologic carbon storage (GCS) projects. These workflows and assessments have focused primarily on determining the in-situ storage resource based on geologic and engineering parameters and do not integrate subsurface characterization with surface conditions, social factors, and environmental factors that may pose a benefit or impediment to the implementation of GCS. Furthermore, the data required to assess the technical viability of GCS are myriad and disparate. There is no current methodology that identifies technical viability criteria and systematically informs how to aggregate these factors for spatial assessments. To address this gap, the National Energy Technology Laboratory has developed a Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Matrix that incorporates a wide variety of factors to inform and accelerate screening for GCS site selection in the United States.

The CS TVA Matrix is a knowledge framework which systematically defines the categories and components to assess for viable carbon storage holistically. The CS TVA Matrix defines broad categories: reservoir capacity, retention and seal integrity, hazards, land use, regulations, environmental justice and social and social justice, as well as specific components within each category. The in-depth consideration of community sentiment and impact as part of the environmental justice and social justice components expands the matrix utility beyond more traditional subsurface and siting considerations. The matrix provides a viability indicator for each category using ten designations ranging from non-viable to excellent viability. The data supporting each category can then be combined to spatially summarize the information available to perform GCS technical viability assessments. This workflow and matrix provide guidance to those interested in advancing specific GCS projects through providing a high-level understanding of viability as well as insight into current data gaps and limitations.