carbon sequestration
DESCRIPTION
the basic information on carbon storage. not mine. but its useful =)TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Carbon Sequestration
Red BalansayESS 315
![Page 2: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
What Is It?• Also known as “carbon capture”• A geoengineering technique for the long-term
storage of carbon dioxide (or other forms of carbon) for the mitigation of global warming
• More than 33 billion tons of carbon emissions (annual worldwide)
• Ways that carbon can be stored (sequestered):– In plants and soil “terrestrial sequestration” (“carbon
sinks”)– Underground “geological sequestration” – Deep in ocean “ocean sequestration”– As a solid material (still in development)
![Page 3: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration
![Page 4: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration
• The process through which CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed naturally through photosynthesis & stored as carbon in biomass & soils.
• Tropical deforestation is responsible for 20% of world’s annual CO2 emissions, though offset by uptake of atmospheric CO2 by forests and agriculture
• Ways to reduce greenhouse gases:– avoiding emissions by maintaining existing carbon
storage in trees and soils– increasing carbon storage by tree planting or
conversion from conventional to conservation tillage practices on agricultural lands
![Page 5: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration (continued)
• Carbon seq. rates differ based on the species of tree, type of soil, regional climate, topography & management practice– Pine plantations in SE United States can accumulate
almost 100 metric tons of carbon per acre after 90 years (~ 1 metric ton : 1 year)
• Carbon accumulation eventually reaches saturation point where additional sequestration is no longer possible (when trees reach maturity, or when the organic matter in soils builds back up to original levels before losses occurred)
• After saturation, the trees or agricultural practices still need to be sustained to maintain the accumulated carbon and prevent subsequent losses of carbon back to the atmosphere
![Page 6: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Geological Sequestration
Midwest Geological Sequestration
Consortium (Illinois)
![Page 7: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Geological Sequestration
• Storing of CO2 underground in rock formations able to retain large amounts of CO2 over a long time period– Held in small pore
spaces (have held oil and nat. gas for millions of years)
Layers shown: Coal, brine aquifer, gas bearing
sandstone, gas bearing shale
![Page 8: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Geological Sequestration (continued)
• Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (Illinois Basin)– 1/7 regional partnerships selected to determine the best
approaches for capturing and storing CO2 that might otherwise contribute to global climate change
– assess geological carbon sequestration options in the 60,000 square mile Illinois Basin (Within the Basin are deep, noneconomic coal resources, numerous mature oil fields and deep saline rock formations with potential to store CO2)
– Feb 2009: Successfully completed 8,000 ft deep injection well
• By 2013, a total of one million metric tons of carbon dioxide (roughly the annual emissions of 220,000 automobiles) is expected to be stored within the formation.
![Page 9: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Ocean Sequestration
![Page 10: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Ocean Sequestration
• “Carbon is naturally stored in the ocean via two pumps, solubility and biological, and there are analogous man-made methods, direct injection and ocean fertilization, respectively. Eventually equilibrium between the ocean and the atmosphere will be reached with or without human intervention and 80% of the carbon will remain in the ocean. The same equilibrium will be reached whether the carbon is injected into the atmosphere or the ocean. The rational behind ocean sequestration is simply to speed up the natural process.”
![Page 11: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Ocean Sequestration
• Carbon sequestration by direct injection into the deep ocean involves the capture, separation, transport, and injection of CO2 from land or tankers
• 1/3 of CO2 emitted a year already enters the ocean
• Ocean has 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere
![Page 12: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
National Energy Technology Laboratory
![Page 13: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
National Energy Technology Laboratory
• (NETL)• Develop technologies to capture, separate, and store
carbon dioxide (CO2) in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without adversely influencing energy use or hindering economic growth
• Contributes greatly to Obama’s goal of the development of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• NETL envisions having a technology portfolio of safe, cost-effective, commercial-scale greenhouse gas capture, storage, and mitigation technologies that are available for commercial deployment beginning in 2020.
![Page 14: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
National Energy Technology Laboratory
• NETL’s primary Carbon Sequestration Research & Development Objectives:– lowering the cost and energy penalty associated
with CO2 capture from large point sources– improving the understanding of factors affecting
CO2 storage permanence, capacity, and safety in geologic formations and terrestrial ecosystems
• Once met, new and existing power plants and fuel processing facilities in the U.S. (and around the world) will have the potential to be retrofitted with CO2 capture technologies.
![Page 15: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
• At the global level, the IPCC Third Assessment Report estimates that ~100 billion metric tons of carbon over the next 50 years could be sequestered through forest preservation, tree planting and improved agricultural management.– Offset 10-20% of estimated fossil fuel emissions
• Obama’s Clean Coal Plan– fund five essentially pilot projects with commercial scale
coal-fired power plants that have carbon capture & sequestration
![Page 16: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
• Carbon Sequestration is not yet viable at a commercial level
• Small scale projects demonstrated (lab experiments) but CS is still a developing technology
• Concern with injecting carbon dioxide into ground or ocean because fear of leaks into water table or escape of CO2 into a massive bubble that can potentially suffocate humans and animals
![Page 17: Carbon Sequestration](https://reader036.vdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062403/5695d4bd1a28ab9b02a293db/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Sources
• Overview: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration• http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/index.html
• Obama: • http://www.cleanairconservancy.org/blogDetail.php?id=486• http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/
newenergy_more#relief
• Terrestrial Sequestration: • http://www.epa.gov/sequestration/faq.html
• Geological Sequestration: • http://sequestration.org/• http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/sequestration/geologic/
index.html
• Ocean Sequestration• http://www.princeton.edu/~chm333/2002/fall/co_two/oceans/