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Can We Solve Global Warming by Storing CO2 Underground?

September 11, 2008 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Christopher Swope, Governing.com
On a ranch outside Cranfield, Mississippi, workers for the state's largest oil and gas operator are shooting a dense liquid 10,300 feet into the earth. The liquid is a supercritical form of carbon dioxide that serves a valuable purpose for Denbury Resources Inc. Oozing through porous rock, the CO2 mixes with oil and pries it out from underground nooks that otherwise would be hard to reach. Denbury pumps the slimy blend back out of the ground, sells the oil and sends the carbon dioxide back down, repeating the cycle until a well runs dry.

What geologists want to know is what happens to the CO2 that's left behind.

Tags: carbon storage, Christopher Swope, Denbury Resources Inc, Governing.com

Continue reading Can We Solve Global Warming by Storing CO2 Underground?.

You Put De Lime in De Ocean and It Eats Up All De Carbon

July 24, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shell is exploring an idea from the 1990s that would dump quicklime into the ocean, where it would absorb carbon dioxide and store it on the ocean floor. Wired says that Shell is providing seed funding to a British start-up, Cquestrate, to explore the idea. Proponents say the plan would also combat acidification of the ocean, which could destroy coral reefs. But it could take 300 billion cubic feet of limestone to capture one year's worth of carbon emissions.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: carbon storage, Cquestrate, quicklime, Shell, Wired

UN Soil Map Tracks Food and Carbon

July 23, 2008 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new database of soils around the world, created by the United Nations, can help track both agricultural output and carbon storage, the UN claims. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization is also producing a Global Carbon Gap Map, according to Reuters. The map will show degraded soils where billions of tons of carbon dioxide could be stored.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: carbon storage, Reuters, UN Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations

EPA Considering Rules for Storing Carbon

July 16, 2008 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One proposal for limiting greenhouse gas emissions is to capture carbon as it is produced at power plants and store it underground, perhaps in exhausted oil wells. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a step toward making that possible by publishing a draft of a rule governing such underground storage. The New York Times quotes a carbon storage expert as saying the rule is an important step, but not the only one needed to make carbon storage a reality.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: carbon storage, EPA, global warming, The New York Times