Open-source QGIS plugin
Route CO2 pipelines the least-cost way.
CO2GIS turns land use, slope, crossings and corridors into a COMET cost surface, finds the globally optimal corridor, and estimates CAPEX — all inside QGIS, no programming required.
See it in action
The full workflow, start to cost
From raw elevation and land-cover data to a routed CO2 pipeline and a CAPEX figure — run end-to-end on a real Portuguese case study.
What it does
One workflow, surface to cost
- Cost model
COMET cost surface
Land use, slope, infrastructure crossings and existing corridors combine into one relative crossing-cost per raster cell.
- Routing
Globally optimal corridor
Accumulated-cost routing via the GRASS chain (r.cost → r.drain → r.thin → r.to.vect) — the true least-cost path, not a greedy guess.
- CAPEX
Cell-level cost estimate
Pipeline diameter from Darcy–Weisbach, priced from the same factors, with booster stations inserted past the pressure budget.
- Trade-off
Precise or fast modes
Exact cell-by-cell estimation, or a fast point-sampling mode for scenario exploration — you choose accuracy vs speed.
How it works
Three steps
Build the cost surface
Each cell gets a COMET crossing cost from land use, slope, crossings and corridors.
Trace the least-cost path
Minimise accumulated cost from source to sink — the optimal corridor across the whole territory.
Estimate CAPEX
Reuse the cost factors to price the route; split long runs with intermediate booster stations.
Validation
Checked against real pipelines
Modelled unit costs (0.38–1.26 M€/km) fall within the range of four operational CO2 pipelines (0.12–1.48 M€/km).
| Pipeline | Length | CAPEX | M€/km |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cortez | 808 km | 1193 M€ | 1.48 |
| Weyburn | 330 km | 39 M€ | 0.12 |
| Quest | 84 km | 100 M€ | 1.19 |
| Qinshui | 116 km | 32 M€ | 0.28 |