In a first-of-its-kind assessment of continent-wide storage potential, the North American Carbon Storage Atlas was released on 1 May 2011 at the 11th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) in Pittsburgh.

NACSA synthesizes data from Mexico, the United States and Canada to map out known geological storage reserves as well as the location of some 2,250 large stationary CO₂ sources.

Tallying up all of the reserves, the report estimates the continent has at least 500 years worth of CO₂ storage capacity, and as much as 5,000 years, based on current emission rates. The 500-year case estimates potential capacity of 136 billion metric tons for oil and gas fields, 65 billion metric tons for coal fields, and 1,738 billion metric tons for saline reservoirs.

“This new atlas provides the kind of fundamental information that, combined with technology innovation, can help fossil-fuelled facilities continue their essential energy role while reducing carbon pollution,” said Steven Chu, United States Secretary of Energy, in a statement.

“This initiative can also help identify opportunities for enhanced oil recovery projects that can further increase domestic oil production, enhance American energy security and support economic growth in states across the country,” Chu added.

Also being launched alongside the printed-copy of the atlas were the NACSA website and online viewer. In addition to maps of CO₂ stationary sources and storage resources, the website also presents methodologies for estimating storage resources along with links to additional information.

Intended for a broad range of users, the online viewer also provides interactive access to the map layers and data used to construct the atlas.

The carbon storage atlas project has been produced under the auspices of the bilateral Canada-US Clean Energy Dialogue as well as a trilateral program under the North American Leaders’ Summit.