A review of offshore carbon dioxide geological storage from a source-sink perspective

Yue Yao, Ying Wang, Xiaojuan Xiang and Xiaoyu Xie

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 222, issue C

Abstract: Offshore carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage is a vital climate mitigation strategy, providing greater capacity and security over terrestrial alternatives. While global efforts are shifting from in-situ demonstration to large-scale deployment, offshore carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) implementations are constrained by spatial mismatches between carbon sources and storage sinks. This review synthesizes advancements in marine CO2 storage from a source-sink perspective, bridging research and practical solutions to accelerate offshore CCUS development. The review explores the fundamentals of marine CO2 sequestration, covering water column and sub-seabed geological storage, emphasizing gravitational and hydrate trapping mechanisms. This study highlights the research progress in source-sink matching integration, including spatiotemporal optimization models, cluster-hub developments, diversity of storage reservoirs, geological capacity and site assessment, offshore gas reinjection and coastal sources, hybrid maritime transportation and networks, carbon utilization and uncertainty management. A global analysis of offshore CCUS projects across 21 countries summarizes regional source-route-sink innovations and lessons from Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and Asia. Five principal offshore source-sink schemes are identified, spanning direct subsea storage to cross-border and net-zero scenarios, alongside discussions on the evolving international and national regulatory frameworks governing sub-seabed CO2 storage. Bibliometric analysis reveals a research trend shift from theoretical frameworks to interdisciplinary applications. Future research efforts should prioritize advanced modeling, techno-economic-risk assessments, multi-system coordination and international governance to improve scalability, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of offshore deployment.

Keywords: Offshore CO2 geological storage; Source-sink matching; CCUS deployment; Sub-seabed carbon sequestration; Marine carbon management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125006628
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:222:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125006628

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115989

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().