Where Can We Store CO ₂ and at What Cost? A Global Geologic Screening

Achieving climate targets may require more than 515 Gt of geologic CO 2 storage by mid-century, yet no globally consistent, cost-inclusive assessments of storage potential currently exist. Identifying where storage can scale requires a framework that compares storage potential and costs across sedimentary settings by using uniform geologic inputs and modeling assumptions. Here, we develop a globally harmonized screening that integrates basin architecture, reservoir properties, and thermal conditions and applies SCO 2 T PRO, a dynamic injection and storage model that estimates the injectivity, effective storage potential, and storage cost. Results reveal systematic geologic controls on both storage potential and cost: the largest potential storage volumes do not necessarily coincide with the least cost opportunities. High-storage, moderate-cost passive margins and foreland systems contrast with low-cost, moderate-volume rifts and intracratonic basins suited to early deployment. Regional supply curves indicate that Eastern Europe and West-Central Asia, Africa, and parts of Latin America can deliver large storage volumes without rapid cost escalation, while Eastern Asia and the Middle East offer localized, very low-cost opportunities. This cost-inclusive framework provides a basis for prioritizing where durable CO 2 storage can be developed first, at scale and at the lowest cost, using standardized geologic inputs and modeling assumptions that can be applied to new data sets.