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Japan Proposes to Bury Carbon Dioxide
Interesting article:
Quote:
Japan hopes to slash greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming with a revolutionary plan to pump carbon dioxide into underground storage reservoirs instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, an official said Monday.
The proposal aims to bury 200 million tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2020, cutting the country's emissions by one-sixth, said Masahiro Nishio, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Introduced last month, the plan is still under study.
It's not actually that 'revolutionary' of an idea- carbon sequestration, while not very common yet, has been tried before. Many people think it's going to be a big part of the fight against global warming, and certainly it makes a kind of logical harmony- we pumped out the oil, now lets pump the CO2 back down there. My opinion is that it could be a great thing.
However, there are a few issues which this article only touches on, and a few others that it doesn't even mention. First is cost- underground gas storage is really expensive, because gas escapes pretty easily, can combust, and is hugely voluminous. If it's liquid, that's easier, but you have to keep it cold. Second is safety- earthquakes, fires, who knows what could cause the release of the trapped gas, and aside from the obvious waste of time, mony and effort all the rest would be, that could also be tremendously unsafe.
In 1986, at Lake Nyos in Cameroon, 300,000 tons of naturally occurring carbon dioxide that had been trapped in the lake suddenly rose to the surface and formed a misty cloud, suffocating 1,700 people.
Third is availability. Places that are geologically suitable for carbon sequestration may not actually be that common- if there are earthquakes, or the ground is somewhat porous, or there have been significant disruptions, mining, air pockets, etc., it could make sequestering carbon harder. And because of the unexplored safety issues, not everyone will want carbon sequestered underneath them- it has the potential to be a huge NIMBY issue.
I don't want to be a wet blanket on carbon sequestration, but we want to do it right, whatever we do, and I just wanted to point out some things to think about.
So if we send George Bush to his underground bunker, then pump in the CO2, we'll be killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
It's really a win-win for the world. Glad to hear some alternatives are being proposed for the elimination of all things bad for the world environment...
Cheers,
Curt.
'04 Seaside Pearl #7. Fumoto oil drain, mudflaps, rear bumper scuff protector & rear warn system, compass mirror, EV mode button, 8" subwoofer in right rear cubby & 6" subs under seats, power lumbar in the front seats, Coastaletech hitch w/ Aspen bike/snowboard rack. iPod2car, 2 amps, Alpine component speakers, and DVD video, solid 47 MPG @ 70000 miles.
You kid, but I have a personal anecdote about an innocent online comment causing the Secret Service to leave a message on my answering machine back when I was 15 years old... and it wasn't even my innocent comment! I just happened to run a free hobbiest Bulletin Board System (similar to a discussion forum, but way back before the 'Net was publicly accessible).
One learns to be more careful with comments and online discussions after that!
Japan Proposes to Bury Carbon Dioxide
Would-be hypermiler
