A mini review on “from decades to centuries”: temporal gaps in CCUS governance

Current carbon accounting equates CO 2 injection with permanent removal, an assumption that analysis of fractured unconventional reservoirs contradicts: 51.7% of injected carbon remains mobile after 10 years. This temporal misalignment rewards decade-scale performance while century-scale isolation is required, risking the institutionalization of carbon leakage within climate infrastructure. Binary accounting should be replaced by four containment regimes distinguished by residence time and phase stability, operationalized through a Time-Weighted Net Carbon Storage metric and a three-tiered intergenerational liability mechanism. China’s ongoing gigatonne-scale deployment provides a critical window to establish these time-aware governance precedents before suboptimal infrastructure becomes locked in.