Carbon Emissions and Sequestration
Climate Science Spotlight
The USGS conducts research on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in public lands maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which make up about one-fifth of the Nation’s land area.
The USGS investigates methods of land management aimed at decreasing emissions from federal lands and provides decision-makers and managers with tools to analyze tradeoffs associated with changing energy practices. The USGS also develops natural carbon dioxide removal technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration and to decrease natural methane emissions.
Quickly jump to how USGS is delivering climate science:
Volcanoes & Climate Change
Geologic Carbon Storage
Biologic Carbon Storage
Do Volcanic Gases Contribute to Climate Change?
Do gases emitted during volcanic eruptions contribute to climate change?
Yes. During major explosive eruptions huge amounts of volcanic gas, aerosol droplets, and ash are injected into the stratosphere. The gases are a mixture of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as gases that can cause global cooling, like sulfur dioxide.
Does the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by volcanoes exceed the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by humans?
No. All studies to date of global volcanic carbon dioxide emissions indicate that present-day volcanoes, both those on land and underwater, release less than one percent of the carbon dioxide released currently by human activities.
Storing Carbon Long-Term in Rock Formations
Although much of the focus on combatting climate change has naturally been on preventing greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, determining what to do with the emissions that are already in the atmosphere or that have been captured before they can reach the atmosphere is of growing importance. One option is to store the carbon in the very rock formations it originated from, the sedimentary basins that house oil, gas, and coal.
Storing carbon in rock formations, also known as geologic carbon sequestration, relies on locking the carbon into rock for a very long time. The most well-known option is to pressurize the carbon into a liquid and then pump it into underground rock layers. One appealing aspect of that method is the sheer amount of storage available. In 2013, the USGS estimated that there are 3,000 metric gigatons of carbon storage potential in geologic basins throughout the country.
For comparison, in 2021 the world emitted about 36.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent according to the International Energy Agency, and the United States emitted a net of about 5.6 gigatons according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So the USGS estimate indicates that just under 83 years at 2021 levels of world emissions, or 536 years of U.S. emissions, could be stored geologically using currently available technologies. Other options include artificially growing carbonate minerals and even using carbon dioxide as a method of enhanced oil and gas production.
Growing Solutions to Carbon Emissions through Plants
Biologic carbon sequestration takes advantage of nature's ability to store carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it as a building block to create new tissue. Some of the carbon remains preserved in soil, sediments, and wood. Ecosystems like forests and wetlands can absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long time periods, from decades to thousands of years. The USGS helps managers and conservation agencies identify ecosystems that are particularly good at storing carbon and supports restoration and conservation of these areas. Much of this work currently focuses on carbon stored in coastal regions, known as “blue carbon.”
USGS Delivering Climate Science
To policymakers, resource managers, and the public to help guide better decisions for building sustainable resource stewardship across America’s public lands and beyond.
The USGS investigates methods of land management aimed at decreasing emissions from federal lands and provides decision-makers and managers with tools to analyze tradeoffs associated with changing energy practices. The USGS also develops natural carbon dioxide removal technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration and to decrease natural methane emissions.
Quickly jump to how USGS is delivering climate science:
Volcanoes & Climate Change
Geologic Carbon Storage
Biologic Carbon Storage
Do Volcanic Gases Contribute to Climate Change?
Do gases emitted during volcanic eruptions contribute to climate change?
Yes. During major explosive eruptions huge amounts of volcanic gas, aerosol droplets, and ash are injected into the stratosphere. The gases are a mixture of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as gases that can cause global cooling, like sulfur dioxide.
Does the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by volcanoes exceed the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by humans?
No. All studies to date of global volcanic carbon dioxide emissions indicate that present-day volcanoes, both those on land and underwater, release less than one percent of the carbon dioxide released currently by human activities.
Storing Carbon Long-Term in Rock Formations
Although much of the focus on combatting climate change has naturally been on preventing greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, determining what to do with the emissions that are already in the atmosphere or that have been captured before they can reach the atmosphere is of growing importance. One option is to store the carbon in the very rock formations it originated from, the sedimentary basins that house oil, gas, and coal.
Storing carbon in rock formations, also known as geologic carbon sequestration, relies on locking the carbon into rock for a very long time. The most well-known option is to pressurize the carbon into a liquid and then pump it into underground rock layers. One appealing aspect of that method is the sheer amount of storage available. In 2013, the USGS estimated that there are 3,000 metric gigatons of carbon storage potential in geologic basins throughout the country.
For comparison, in 2021 the world emitted about 36.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent according to the International Energy Agency, and the United States emitted a net of about 5.6 gigatons according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So the USGS estimate indicates that just under 83 years at 2021 levels of world emissions, or 536 years of U.S. emissions, could be stored geologically using currently available technologies. Other options include artificially growing carbonate minerals and even using carbon dioxide as a method of enhanced oil and gas production.
Growing Solutions to Carbon Emissions through Plants
Biologic carbon sequestration takes advantage of nature's ability to store carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it as a building block to create new tissue. Some of the carbon remains preserved in soil, sediments, and wood. Ecosystems like forests and wetlands can absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long time periods, from decades to thousands of years. The USGS helps managers and conservation agencies identify ecosystems that are particularly good at storing carbon and supports restoration and conservation of these areas. Much of this work currently focuses on carbon stored in coastal regions, known as “blue carbon.”
USGS Delivering Climate Science
To policymakers, resource managers, and the public to help guide better decisions for building sustainable resource stewardship across America’s public lands and beyond.