PERBAS - Permanent sequestration of gigatons of CO2 in continental margin basalt deposits

The EU climate protection measures aim to make the European economy climate-neutral by 2050 and prevent climate change from progressing. In order to permanently stabilise this transformation of our society, in addition to avoiding CO₂emissions in the future, it is already necessary to permanently remove large quantities of CO₂ from the atmosphere today. The necessary storage capacities of 40 million tonnes per year will probably have to be increased to 20 gigatonnes per year and can only be achieved through a global joint effort by geological storage of CO₂. After a changeover in society, a few technologies (cement, waste incineration, etc.) will still not be able to manage without CO₂emissions. In the long term, CCS can only provide permanent storage for these small residual stocks.

For storage to be economically and climatically viable, the CO₂ must be stored for several thousand years without potential leaks. With conventional CCS, the injected CO₂ remains mobile for decades and is therefore at risk to tectonic or man-made disturbances in the geological formation, which can lead to leakages. CO₂ storage in basalt complexes offers an alternative solution. Test sites such as Carbfix (Iceland) and Wallula (USA) have confirmed that the injected CO₂ reacts almost immediately with water and the volcanic host rock. This mineralization permanently stores the carbon as a solid (carbonate) in the pore spaces of the reservoir rock, with more than 90 % of the injected CO₂ converted within two years. Flood basalts on continental margins provide an estimated 40 Tt of volume for carbon storage worldwide. Offshore CCS in such basalt complexes represents a compelling alternative. Potential storage sites are located away from other utilization interests such as wind power, fisheries and shipping lanes. Potential storage sites have no connection to groundwater reservoirs and are located far away from settlement areas.

PERBAS investigates such flood basalts using examples in Norway (Vøring Plateau) and India (Deccan Traps) to provide recommendations for the classification of flood basalts, the characterization of storage sites and monitoring after CO₂ injection.

Fact Sheet

Storing CO2 in flood basalts under the sea: options on a billion-ton scale

Upcoming events

• PERBAS annual meeting (project participants) - 17.06.2025 - NGRI, Hyderabad, Indien
• SEG Beneath the Surface: Innovations in Geoscience - 18.06.2025 bis 20.06.2025 - Hyderabad, Indien

Publications by the project partners

Youtube

Poster

Papers

Abdelmalak, M.M., Rossetti, L.M., Millett, J.M., Planke, S., 2025. Breakup Magmatism in the South Atlantic: Mechanisms and Implications. Earth-Science Reviews, 264

Niyogi, A., Mallik, J.,Tiwari, B., Ghosh, S., Laha, P. 2024. Evaluation of the Deccan Dykes as Potential CO2 Sink. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (in review).

Vedanti N., and Tripathi, P., 2024, Chlorophaeite-linked low velocity and high seismic attenuation in Deccan LIP basalts and scope for CO2 sequestration, Frontiers in Earth Science – Solid Earth Geophysics (in review). 

Tiwari, B., Mallik, J., Niyogi, A., Laha, P., Ghosh, S., Vedanti, N., 2024. Relooking into the Deccan Trap, India, as a potential CO2 sink (in review). 

Vedanti N., and Tripathi, P., 2024, Chlorophaeite-linked low velocity and high seismic attenuation in Deccan LIP basalts and scope for CO2 sequestration, The Leading Edge (in review). 

Rosenqvist, M.P., Millett, J.M., Planke, S., Johannesen, R.M., Passey, S.R., Sørensen, E.V., Vosgerau, H. and Jamtveit, B., 2024. The architecture of basalt reservoirs in the North Atlantic Igneous Province with implications for basalt carbon sequestration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 547(1), pp. SP547-2023.

Millett, J. M., Rossetti, L., Bischoff, A., Rossetti, M., Rosenquist, M.P., Avseth, P., Hole, M.J., Pierdominici, S., Healy, D., Jerram, D.A., and Planke, S. (2024). "Lava flow-hosted reservoirs: a review." Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

 

Talks

Millett, J., Planke, S., Berndt, C., Zarikian, C.A., Betlem, P., Rosenqvist, M., Manton, B., Jolley, D., Pierdominici, S., Buenz, S. and Myklebust, R., 2023. Assessing the potential for permanent carbon storage in volcano-sedimentary sequences offshore mid-Norway: initial results from IODP Expedition 396

Planke, S., Millett, J.M., Manton, B., Jerram, D.A., Rossetti, L., and Myklebust, R., 2023. Exploring Brazilian Volcanic Basins for Hydrocarbons and Permanent Carbon Storage. AAPG Latin America & Caribbean Conference on The Importance of Exploration and Production in the Energy Transition, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 9-10.05.2023.

Planke, S., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Bünz, S., Binde, C., Berndt, C., Faleide, J.I., Huismans, R., Zastrozhnov, D., Manton, B., Stokke, H. and Betlem, P., 2023. High-resolution core-log-seismic integration and igneous seismic geomorphology of IODP Expedition.

Sverre Planke, 2023. The nature of SDRs constrained by high-resolution 3D seismic and IODP X396 borehole data on the mid-Norwegian volcanic margin. Rift and Rifted Margins Online Seminar, 64. Seaward dipping reflectors | 4th December (2023)

John Michael Millett (University of Aberdeen, UK) “Reservoir properties and CO2 storage potential of volcanic margin sequences: insights from IODP drilling mid-Norway SDRS” Rift and Rifted Margins Online Seminar, 64. Seaward dipping reflectors | 4th December (2023)