Capture of Carbon Dioxide and Other Greenhouse Gasses

This section gathers information on carbon capture in two main ways.

Firstly we are thinking of the capture of carbon dioxide from the flue gases of fossil fuel power stations. Here capture of 85% is possible but no large power stations have yet been equipped.

Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate

Impact Research in Germany, predicted US technology would lead.

"In the next 10 years, either in China or the United States, we will

see the first emission-free coal-fired power plant -- not in Europe,"

he said, adding China would use US technology.

A research project in India suggests bacteria might be effective.

Secondly there is the task of capturing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. This is currently being done by plants and by trees. Can we offer incentives to plant more trees but more importantly to retain existing forests. It had long been thought that old forests emitted carbon dioxide but a recent study established that they were usually effective carbon sinks and should be preserved.

50% of photosynthesis takes place in the ocean. The effect of rising temperatures and acidity are not well understood but there may be ways to enhance CO2 absorbtion there.

At last University of Calgary claims Carbon Capture from the Air is only slightly more expensive than from smoke stacks which could be an answer for transportation emissions. They claim of the order of 10% increase in fuel cost would be sufficient.

Capture within ultramafic rocks is the latest and most promising research finding. These rocks are abundant worldwide and include basalt.

Having captured the carbon dioxide the problem then becomes storage. This is made easier if the capture is by vegetation, particularly trees. There is great debate on the role of Biochar. Interest was raised by the fertility of Amazon soils in which ancient peoples introduced charcoal. If we could do the same we could store carbon in the soil as a sink and also increase its fertility. Many feel the enthusiasm is premature and have signed a petition to that effect. The debate is very important as we risk an adventure on a grand scale. The early trials like the BioChar New Zealand must be closely evaluated.

Group members

• Malcolm

Sources

1. Canada Finances Carbon Capture over 15 years 17/10/09
2. Norway budgets $640 million for Carbon Capture in 2010 14/10/09
3. Carbon Capture from the Air 01/10/08
4. Awards for Carbon Storage Technology 28/08/09
5. Canada Invests in Carbon Capture 20/05/09
6. UK Carbon Capture Test 40MW plant 26/07/09
7. China Carbon Capture by US proposed by Secretary of State Chu 19/07/09
8. Conversion of CO2 to Hydrocarbon Fuels 28/02/09
9. Rainforests May Pump Winds Worldwide Coastal areas critical 05/04/09
10. Understanding Ocean Carbon Capture 12/05/09
11. Rocks Could Absorb All the CO2 06/03/09
12. New UN Agreement on Forest Management
13. Carbon Farming in New Zealand 10/07/09
14. Bacteria to Capture CO2 17/02/09
15. Tropical Forests Can Recover from Clear Cutting 22/02/09
16. Small Increase in Soil Carbon Sufficient
17. Old Forests ARE Carbon Sinks 22/09/08
18. Carbon Capture in China 06/08/08
19. Useful Agro forestry in Ghana 21/10/08
20. UAE Carbon capture 23/01/08
21. BioChar New Zealand 06/01/08
22. CO2 Capture experiences 25/06/08
23. Paying to stop Deforestation 06/08/08
24. Duckweed to the Rescue 09/07/08
25. The Role of Dust in mitigation 03/03/08
26. Biofuels and Forest Soil Carbon 21/05/08
27. Management of Pasture to capture CO2 11/12/07
28. Smithsonian Forest Study Launched 03/03/08
29. Carbon Capture Summary
30. Reducing CO2 in atmosphere may not be possible 20/06/08
31. Answer is Agriculture. Pay farmers to build topsoil 11/02/08
32. Carbon and Prince Charles forest initative. 27/10/07
33. Power and Carbon Capture Agrichar
34. BP abandons Carbon Capture Plant
35. Giant Role of Tiny Plankton
36. Typhoons Bury tonnes of Carbon in the Ocean 25/07/08
37. Soil Erosion forms Carbon Sink 30/10/07
38. Blooms of Phytoplankton West of Ireland
39. Capture Chinese Greenhouse Gases
40. Forest Sequestration of CO2 Overestimated 02/04/08
41. Algae Extract fuel from Smoke Stacks - GreenFuel progress 31/08/07
42. No Till could save 10% of our total carbon emissions
43. Gasification
44. Space to Bury CO2
45. Soil Solution 24/07/07
46. Ocean Experiment 28/06/07
47. CO2 mitigation by marine algae
48. Afforestation
49. Reducing Deforestation
50. Discussing Carbon Burial
51. Earthquake Danger
52. Flue Gas Scrubbing
53. No-Till Farming
54. Synthetic Trees
55. Soil Carbon Method
56. Weeds the Answer as they have learned to adapt quickly
57. Dark Fungi Absorb the Suns energy