WESTCARB Overview

WESTCARB is exploring opportunities in seven western states and one Canadian province for removing CO2, a major greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere by (1) terrestrial sequestration— enhancing natural processes that store it in biomass and soil, and (2) carbon capture and storage (CCS)—modifying industrial facilities to remove CO2 from process or exhaust gases for injection into secure geologic formations.

Within its territory, WESTCARB is identifying the major stationary sources of CO2 such as power plants, oil refineries, and cement plants; assessing CO2 separation or “capture” technologies that could be used at these facilities; determining the potential for storing CO2 in geologic formations; and assessing the costs of transporting CO2 via pipelines from major CO2 sources to storage sites.

For terrestrial carbon sequestration, WESTCARB is quantifying the extent to which changes in the management of forests, rangelands, and agricultural lands can increase carbon storage within these types of ecosystems.

DOE combines WESTCARB’s findings with those of the other regional partnerships to create the interactive National Carbon Explorer (NATCARB) to better understand how carbon sequestration can help the United States and Canada reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change impacts.