WESTCARB Carbon Atlas

The WESTCARB Carbon Atlas is an interactive geographical information system (GIS) showing the location of major industrial sources of CO2 emissions; areas with geologic formations capable of storing CO2, such as sedimentary basins; locations of potential CO2 storage sites within sedimentary basins (e.g., existing oil and gas fields); boundaries of publicly owned lands relevant to geologic and terrestrial sequestration opportunity characterization (e.g., national forests); and vital existing features, such as transportation arteries (e.g., interstate highways and railroads), rivers and streams, and jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., state, county, and municipal limits).

Organizing data by location—the premise of GIS knowledge bases—is an effective means of combining information from numerous existing public domain sources with new information being developed by WESTCARB. GIS databases are widely used throughout the public and private sectors, and the GIS-based WESTCARB Carbon Atlas facilitates communication and application of WESTCARB results.

Data in the WESTCARB Carbon Atlas are also served to the U.S. Department of Energy's interactive national carbon atlas (NATCARB). DOE has also published the Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada, Version 2, which summarizes carbon sequestration technologies, the regional partnerships' research and field projects, and the location and approximate capacities of various geologic formations suitable for CO2 storage.