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.

A recent (2011) project in Scotland has been cancelled because of the high cost.

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. Work is progressing too at MIT.

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. Artifical methods are proposed (2011) with a capture efficiency of 1000 time that of a tree.

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. A promising pilot is also working at Global Thermostat. Now in 2018 Bill Gates has a substantial pilot project Air to Fuel.

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. Capture in basalt undersea rocks was being evaluated in 2010 and trials in Iceland in 2014 have proved remarkably successful. I believe this could be the turning point for effective carbon management..

Now Canada has the record for the first carbon capture from a cement plant on an industrial scale using algae.

Group members

• Malcolm

Sources of Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture

1. UK Needs CCS to Meet Targets  15/02/16
2. China USA Cooperate on Carbon Capture  10/07/14 
3. Extracting Carbon from Nature  27/03/14
4. CO2 oil swap brings carbon capture nearer  15/09/13
5. Artificial Sponge for Carbon Capture 13/02/13 
6. Sea Urchin Leads to Carbon Capture 04/02/13 
7. UK Support Carbon Capture and Storage  13/10/12 
8. Moringa Tree Solution  28/02/13 
9. Microbe for Fuel  MIT 20/08/12
10. Models may overestimate plant carbon absorbtion  27/11/12 
11. Speeding up Carbon Capture  09/09/12 
12. Reforestation Better than Monoculture Forests 04/08/10
13. Old Growth Forest is Carbon Sink in USA 22/07/11 
14. Tree Planting Benefit Depends on Latitude  19/11/11 
15. Air Capture of CO2 by 2018 say British engineers 02/11/11 
16. Fertiliser Trees capture carbon and double crop yields 20/10/11 
17. Role of Leaf Litter Clearer 17/08/11 
18. Pilot for CO2 removal from atmosphere  working well 16/05/11 
19. Carbon Capture from Atmosphere Uneconomic  14/05/11 
20. Canada Finances Carbon Capture over 15 years 17/10/09
21. Trees not so good carbon sinks  30/10/10 
22. Discussing Doubts about Carbon Capture  27/04/10 
23. First Industrial Capture of CO2 with Algae  11/04/10
24. Developed World Should Rent Forest 03/12/09
25. Norway budgets $640 million for Carbon Capture in 2010 14/10/09
26. Carbon Capture from the Air 01/10/08
27. Afforestation at High Latitudes better than expected 17/11/09
28. Canada Invests in Carbon Capture 20/05/09
29. Tropical Peat Lands Trap More Carbon than thought 07/11/09
30. UK Carbon Capture Test 40MW plant 26/07/09
31. China Carbon Capture by US proposed by Secretary of State Chu 19/07/09
32. Conversion of CO2 to Hydrocarbon Fuels 28/02/09
33. Rainforests May Pump Winds Worldwide Coastal areas critical 05/04/09
34. Understanding Ocean Carbon Capture 12/05/09
35. New UN Agreement on Forest Management
36. Carbon Farming in New Zealand 10/07/09
37. Bacteria to Capture CO2 17/02/09
38. Tropical Forests Can Recover from Clear Cutting 22/02/09
39. Small Increase in Soil Carbon Sufficient
40. Old Forests ARE Carbon Sinks 22/09/08
41. Carbon Capture in China 06/08/08
42. Useful Agro forestry in Ghana 21/10/08
43. UAE Carbon capture 23/01/08
44. BioChar New Zealand 06/01/08
45. CO2 Capture experiences 25/06/08
46. Paying to stop Deforestation 06/08/08
47. Duckweed to the Rescue 09/07/08
48. The Role of Dust in mitigation 03/03/08
49. Biofuels and Forest Soil Carbon 21/05/08
50. Management of Pasture to capture CO2 11/12/07
51. Smithsonian Forest Study Launched 03/03/08
52. Carbon Capture Summary
53. Reducing CO2 in atmosphere may not be possible 20/06/08
54. Answer is Agriculture. Pay farmers to build topsoil 11/02/08
55. Carbon and Prince Charles forest initative. 27/10/07
56. Power and Carbon Capture Agrichar
57. BP abandons Carbon Capture Plant
58. Giant Role of Tiny Plankton
59. Typhoons Bury tonnes of Carbon in the Ocean 25/07/08
60. Soil Erosion forms Carbon Sink 30/10/07
61. Blooms of Phytoplankton West of Ireland
62. Capture Chinese Greenhouse Gases
63. Forest Sequestration of CO2 Overestimated 02/04/08
64. Algae Extract fuel from Smoke Stacks - GreenFuel progress 31/08/07
65. No Till could save 10% of our total carbon emissions
66. Gasification
67. Soil Solution 24/07/07
68. Ocean Experiment 28/06/07
69. CO2 mitigation by marine algae
70. Afforestation
71. Reducing Deforestation
72. Flue Gas Scrubbing
73. No-Till Farming
74. Synthetic Trees
75. Soil Carbon Method
76. Weeds the Answer as they have learned to adapt quickly
77. Dark Fungi Absorb the Suns energy

Storage

1. Suitable Rocks for Carbon Capture Storage 12/07/13  
2. Potential CO2 Capture in US East Coast Rocks 05/01/10
3. Awards for Carbon Storage Technology 28/08/09
4. Space to Bury CO2
5. Rocks Could Absorb All the CO2 06/03/09 
6. Discussing Carbon Burial
7. Earthquake Danger