Keynote contribution

CO2 Sequestration and Mineralization in Basalts in Eastern China: Prospects, Constraints and Challenges

Fengshou Zhang

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
47-60
Submitted
28 May 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

Basalt-hosted CO2 mineralization has emerged as a promising geological storage pathway due to its high storage permanence and low long-term leakage risk. In eastern China, widespread Cenozoic basalt formations are located close to major industrial emission clusters, providing favorable source-sink matching for near-source carbon storage. This study presents an integrated assessment of the prospects, constraints, and challenges of CO2 sequestration and mineralization in eastern China basalts, with a site-specific investigation of the Bailonggang-Sanjiagang basalt system in the Shanghai coastal region. Geological characterization reveals strong vertical heterogeneity in lithofacies, mineralogical composition, and porosity-permeability properties, which fundamentally control reservoir accessibility and storage performance. Batch reaction experiments on representative basalt samples from Shanghai and Zhanjiang confirm effective CO2 mineralization through carbonate precipitation, demonstrating strong mineralization potential in buried basalt reservoirs. Site-scale storage assessment under dissolved CO2 injection indicates a realizable storage capacity of 75.10 Mt, while showing that practical storage capacity is governed primarily by effective pore accessibility and injectivity rather than by reactive mineral availability alone. Coupled reactive transport analysis further reveals dynamic porosity evolution during injection, characterized by an initial dissolution-enhanced stage followed by precipitation-induced self-sealing, which directly affects injectivity sustainability and mineral trapping efficiency. The results highlight that reservoir heterogeneity, reactive transport evolution, and mineralization-induced geomechanical responses represent critical constraints on field-scale deployment. Future development of basalt-hosted CO2 mineralization in eastern China requires improved multi-scale THMC coupling, reliable upscaling from laboratory characterization to field deployment, and adaptive data-informed injection management to improve long-term storage efficiency and operational safety.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Fengshou Zhang Tongji University, China, People's Republic of ORCID 0000-0002-4998-6259

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