Evaluation of the potential of glauconite in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin for large-scale carbon dioxide mineralization

Geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is an essential and economical measure to mitigate global climate change. CO2 storage potential in sedimentary reservoirs is commonly passed over in favor of more reactive rock formations, such as basalts, because the latter offer rapid, permanent storage as carbonate minerals while the former are thought to only offer less permanent physical trapping of CO2. Nevertheless, recent research has demonstrated that carbonation reactions in glauconitic sandstones are favorable under realistic reservoir conditions, although the overall availability of glauconite for carbonation has not yet been quantified. Here, we use calculations based on 11,652 well logs to show that glauconitic sandstones offer significant and previously overlooked potential for sedimentary reservoir-based mineral carbonation. Our results demonstrate that hundreds of gigatons of CO2 could be sequestered by carbonating the immense quantity of glauconite underlying Alberta, Canada alone. Importantly, these glauconitic sandstones, and others worldwide, have long been exploited for their favorable hydrocarbon production capacity. Thus, global societies eager to limit greenhouse gas emissions may need to look no further than the reservoirs they are already exploiting. Moreover, because the requisite injection infrastructure is oftentimes still active, glauconitic sandstones may present the highest priority, lowest capital cost substrate for mineral carbonation worldwide.

Automated summary

Geologic carbon dioxide storage is essential and cost-effective for mitigating global climate change. Glauconitic sandstones, commonly overlooked as sedimentary reservoirs, offer favorable carbonation reactions and have the potential to sequester hundreds of gigatons of CO2, especially in Alberta, Canada. These sandstones have long been exploited for hydrocarbon production and may present the highest priority, lowest capital cost substrate for mineral carbonation worldwide.