A prudent planetary limit for geologic carbon storage

Abstract Geologically storing carbon is a key strategy for abating emissions from fossil fuels and durably removing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere 1,2 . However, the storage potential is not unlimited 3,4 . Here we establish a prudent planetary limit of around 1,460 (1,290–2,710) Gt of CO 2 storage through a risk-based, spatially explicit analysis of carbon storage in sedimentary basins. We show that only stringent near-term gross emissions reductions can lower the risk of breaching this limit before the year 2200. Fully using geologic storage for carbon removal caps the possible global temperature reduction to 0.7 °C (0.35–1.2 °C, including storage estimate and climate response uncertainty). The…