The US Geological Survey (USGS) was given permission by the US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to conduct a national assessment of geologic storage resources for anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) and to assess the national technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources as a result of CO2 injection and storage through CO2 -Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2 -EOR). The USGS is also conducting research in a number of other areas related to carbon sequestration, such as the economics of CO2 storage and CO2 -enhanced oil recovery, as well as induced seismicity related to CO2 geologic storage. These other areas include the study of natural CO2 and helium reservoirs as analogues for anthropogenic CO2 storage.
