Inside the Gruve 7 coal mine on Svalbard. Photo: Hans Baumann
Inside the Gruve 7 coal mine on Svalbard. Photo: Hans Baumann
The essay Carbon Permanence by Hans Baumann follows the emerging infrastructures of carbon capture and storage across Svalbard, the North Sea, China, the Arabian Peninsula, and the American West. Moving between geology, logistics, regulation, and spectacle, the essay asks how carbon storage comes to be understood as permanent when the subsurface itself remains uncertain. It examines permanence not as a property of rock alone, but as something continuously produced through technical systems, institutions, and acts of belief.
Read Hans Baumann’s essay [here]
Inside the Gruve 7 coal mine on Svalbard. Photo: Hans Baumann
Snorre Olaussen at his former carbon storage research site. Photo: Hans Baumann
Archival rendering of the Melkøya onshore facility near Hammerfest in Northern Norway. Image: Equinor
Archival video of a remotely operated submersible monitoring energy infrastructure in the North Sea. Image: Deep Ocean
Locals photograph a robot during the Northern Lights site opening. Photo: Hans Baumann
Locals photograph a robot during the Northern Lights site opening. Photo: Hans Baumann
A geologist testing for carbon mineralization at the 44.01 pilot site. Photo: Hans Baumann
Carbonate accumulations on the rocks surrounding Crystal Geyser. Photo: Hans Baumann
The uranium containment mound at Green River. Photo: Hans Baumann
The publication of this essay was supported by the research project Material Ecologies of Design (2025–2026) at the Center for Advanced Study (CAS), funded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Books and Articles
Braathen, Alvar, et al. “The Longyearbyen CO₂ Lab of Svalbard, Norway - Initial Assessment of the Geological Conditions for CO₂ Sequestration.” Norwegian Journal of Geology 92, no. 4 (2012).
Günel, Gökçe. “What Is Carbon Dioxide: When Is Carbon Dioxide.” PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 39, no. 1 (2016): 35.
Holden, Nora, et al. “Structural Characterization and Across-Fault Seal Assessment of the Aurora CO₂ Storage Site, NorthernNorth Sea.” Petroleum Geoscience 28, no. 4 (2022). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2022-036.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
Kelemen, Peter B., and J.-M. Matter. “In Situ Carbonation of Peridotite for CO₂ Storage.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, no. 45 (2008): 17295–17300. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805794105.
Pinkus, Karen. Subsurface. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2023).
Senger, Kim, et al. “Longyearbyen CO₂ Lab Project - From a Vision of a CO₂-Neutral Svalbard to a Geoscience Data Eldorado.” Arctic Science 11 (2024): DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2024-0019.
Senger, Kim, Peter Betlem, Alvar Braathen, Tom Birchall, Andrew Hodson, Sten-Andreas Grundvåg, Snorre Olaussen, and Gunnar Sand. “Longyearbyen CO₂ Lab Project—Data and Research Synthesis from the High Arctic.” Paper presented atthe 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-17), October 20–24, 2024. SSRN. SSRN.
Swindles, Peter K., et al. “A 61-Million-Year-Old Record of Arctic Vegetation and Wildfire Activity from the Paleocene Coal-Bearing Strata of Svalbard.” Climate of the Past 21 (2025): 2133–2154. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2133-2025.
White, James C., et al. “Seismic Amplitude Analysis Provides New Insights into CO₂ Plume Morphology at the Snøhvit CO₂ InjectionOperation.” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 79 (2018): 313–322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2018.05.024.
White, Joshua, et al. “Geomechanical Behavior of the Reservoir and Caprock System at the In Salah CO₂ Storage Project.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 24 (2014): 8747–8752. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316465111.
Yiallourides, Constantinos, Lennart Westmark, and AlexanderProelss. “Cross-Border CO₂ Transport and Storage Networks in Europe through ‘Arrangements’ under the London Protocol.” Ocean Development and International Law. Published online October 16, 2025. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00908320.2025.2566714.
Webpages and Reports
Arctic Archaeology & Heritage. "Industrial Heritage Sites in Spitsbergen (Svalbard)." Arctic Archaeology & Heritage. 2016. URL:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1873965216300470?via%3Dihub
ADNOC. “ADNOC and 44.01 to Scale Up Carbon-to-Rock Project Following Successful Pilot.” Accessed October 17, 2025. ADNOC. URL:https://adnoc.ae/en/news-and-media/press-releases/2024/adnoc-and-4401-to-scale-up-carbon-torock-project-following-successful-pilot.
Baird Maritime. “Vessel Review: Northern Pioneer—Gas Carrier to Support Norwegian Carbon Capture and Storage Project,” January 2, 2025. Baird Maritime.
URL:https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/gas/vessel-review-northern-pioneer-gas-carrier-to-support-norwegian-carbon-capture-and-storage-project.
Barents Observer. “World’s Northernmost Coal Power Plant Shuts Down.” October 19, 2023. The Barents Observer. URL:https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/arctic/worlds-northernmost-coal-power-plant-shuts-down/119449.
Equinor. “Reducing Emissions from Sleipner and Gudrun.” April 4, 2024. Equinor. URL:https://www.equinor.com/news/20240404-reducing-emissions-from-sleipner-and-gudrun.
Global Energy Monitor. “Global Coal Mine Tracker (Map).” Accessed October 1, 2025. Global Coal Mine Tracker. URL:https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-coal-mine-tracker/tracker-map/
Great Plains Institute and Environmental Defense Fund. “Long-Term Liability for Carbon Capture and Storage: Principles and Considerations.” Great Plains Institute and Environmental Defense Fund. URL:https://carboncaptureready.betterenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Long-Term-Liability.pdf.
Miljødirektoratet (Norwegian Environment Agency). “Tillatelse etter forurensningsloven til injeksjon og lagring av CO2 på Aurorafeltet, Northern Lights JV DA” April 30, 2025. Tillatelsesnummer 2025.0379.T, sec. 3.2. Miljødirektoratet. URL:https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/globalassets/aktuelt/fagmeldinger/2025/mai/northern-lights---co2-lagringstillatelse-3004252.pdf.
MIT Carbon Sequestration Program. “Sleipner.” Accessed October 17, 2025. MIT Carbon Sequestration Program. URL:https://sequestration.mit.edu/tools/projects/sleipner.html.
Northern Lights. “Accelerating Decarbonisation.” Accessed September 1, 2026. Northern Lights CCS.
OSH Marine. “First Liquid CO₂ Carrier for CCS Ready for Delivery in China.” December 1, 2024. OSH Marine. URL:https://oshmarine.com/2024/12/01/first-liquid-co2-carrier-for-ccs-ready-for-delivery-in-china/.
U.S. Department of Energy. “Green River, Utah, Disposal Site Fact Sheet.” August 2022. U.S. Department of Energy. URL: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/GreenRiverFactSheet.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Utah Geological Survey. “GeoSights: Crystal Geyser, Grand County, Utah.” Accessed September 10, 2025. Utah Geological Survey. URL: https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/crystal-geyser/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Verdens Gang (VG). “Norges siste kullgruve.” June 30, 2025. VG. URL:https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/wgoVe1/norges-siste-kullgruve.
Hans Baumann, "Carbon Permanence: The Production of a Geological Promise," Metode (2026), vol. 5 'What if Waste'.