Appraising Pilot-Scale Carbon Capture and Storage Projects: Making Informed Decisions for Realistic Modeling of Dynamic CO2 Storage Capacity

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a critical pillar of climate mitigation efforts, yet its scalable deployment is constrained by capital-intensive investments, regulatory fragmentation, and an absence of standardized site evaluation frameworks. This discussion paper advances a novel, decision-oriented methodology for pilot-scale CCS project appraisal, emphasizing the need to distinguish between commercialization and optimization pathways. By developing a systematic framework grounded in the capacity–injectivity–containment triad, and contextualized with metrics derived from analogous subsurface industries, the paper proposes a structured and defensible basis for model selection, site qualification, and early-phase feasibility assessment. The framework is tailored to support operators with limited financial resources by prioritizing small-scale, locally deployable projects and reducing epistemic uncertainty through explicit, objective-based parameterization. Through integrating reservoir characterization, performance metrics, and decision logic, this approach facilitates transparent project evaluation and risk management, ultimately promoting more confident, cost-effective CCS deployment while preserving environmental security and public trust.