Abstract:
Carbon dioxide geological storage is a key negative emission technology for achieving the “dual carbon” goals, and its industrial development urgently requires a sound approval and supervision system. This paper systematically studies the key problems faced by the approval and supervision system for CO
2 geological storage in China. The research shows that compared with the relatively complete special regulations and full life cycle supervision frameworks established in Europe and the United States, there are significant institutional gaps in this field in China. The core issues include: ①the absence of a licensing and supervision framework, lacking systems for project access, exploration, and storage permits. ②Unclear legal attributes of pore space, with deep saline aquifers and other storage spaces neither being traditional underground spaces nor mineral resources, leading to a lack of legal basis for geological exploration activities. ③The dilemma of pore space property rights, with current laws not clearly defining the rules for setting ownership and usufructuary rights. ④The conflict between the exclusivity of mining rights and the priority of development, where the existing mining rights system hinders non-mining rights holders from entering overlapping areas for storage, and there is a lack of priority rules for resolving rights conflicts. ⑤The absence of monitoring, reporting, and verification(MRV) standards, with existing guidelines lacking quantification standards, hindering project financing and international certification. ⑥The absence of site closure and responsibility transfer systems, lacking long-term guardianship and responsibility transfer mechanisms. In response to these problems, this paper proposes that China should, based on its national conditions and drawing on international experience, build a supervision system in stages: in the short term, clarify the project access process and the competent authorities; in the medium term, solve core bottlenecks such as property rights and priority rights; in the long term, improve the site closure responsibility system and promote special legislation, providing a systematic institutional guarantee for the industrialization of CO
2 geological storage.