Carbon sequestration: to bury the CO2 problem...literally

Much that was science fiction at the turn of the 19th century is today mundane reality. So it is hardly surprising that seemingly implausible ways of tackling our greenhouse gas problem are being used more and more by scientists and geo-engineers.

 One such radical method that is being looked at with keen interest is Carbon Sequestration. But before we launch into the details, the irony underlying this technique deserves mention. Much of our greenhouse gases, primarily CO2 comes from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. These carbon rich natural resources are found deep within the stratified layers of rock, often several kilometers deep inside the earth's crust. Technology has enabled man to dig these resources out, use them as sources of energy, and release the principal by-product, i.e. CO2 into the air, vitiating and warming the atmosphere over several decades. Ironically, carbon sequestration works quite literally to put this unwelcome by-product back into the chasms of the earth from where they originated. Confused? Well, put simply, carbon sequestration is the process of pushing large volumes of CO2 into porous rock strata in the crust, where they are trapped by impervious upper rock layers and by virtue of chemical reaction with the compounds of the rocks themselves.

Possible ways of carbon sequestration 

I came across an article by Rachel Meserole in the Yale Scientific Magazine, where I learnt that this process has been in use for quite some time now. At the Sleipner natural gas field located in the North Sea, one million metric tonnes of CO2 has been pumped annually into a porous sandstone layer beneath the ocean. The CO2 displaces the water trapped between the rock particles and gets trapped, thanks to an impermeable layer above. So, evidently, the process is not only sound in principle, it actually works on the ground. Many such subterranean CO2 traps can be found in the form of depleted coal belts, exhausted oil belts etc. The article details many other aspects of carbon sequestration and is a fascinating read. The same article also describes how magnesium rich basalt layers can trap CO2 due the chemical reaction between the magnesium and CO2 to form carbonates like Magnesite. Both methods have their drawbacks and hazards, but proper focussed research could one day make them feasible methods to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere.

Onebluesphere urges that you give it a quick read here: http://www.yalescientific.org/2008/11/an-inconvenient-truth-a-surprisingly-convenient-solution/

Economic resurgence at the cost of clean air.

A recent article from the Times news network has talked about a rise in the green house gas emissions of industrialized nations in the west being an indicator of their economies returning partly to health. The United States' net CO2 output was close to 6 billion tonnes back in 2006 when the economy was chugging along sufficiently well, but dropped nearly to 5 billion tonnes when recession hit. The situation was similar east of the Atlantic in the Euro zone. Good news for the environment certainly, but hardly the desirable the way of going green, what with so many people in distress.

Now however things have begun to look up again for the economy, and the wheels of industry have started speeding up. Naturally, fuel consumption is inching higher, pulling emissions with it as expected. So the point has been reached where the amount of pollution we cause has become the litmus test for the economy. The reason onebluesphere finds this worthy of note is that this goes on show how flawed our current development pattern is. We have created a system for ourselves where sustainable development has been banished to the backbenches of human priority, allowing repeated assaults on the fragile environmental balance that we ought to preserve. Not enough is being done in promoting green technologies, not enough investments are being made by governments in alternative energy sources. It is vital that people understand the need for adopting more energy-conserving ways of life, and influence policy decisions to that end. It must be our collective goal to create a world where economic health is no longer achieved at the cost of environmental  health. Onebluesphere urges all readers to spare some time and thought to consider what they can do in their own ways (as talked about in the previous post) to help attain that goal.

                                                                one planet....one chance