Canadian Study Scrutinizes Carbon Capture

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/canadian-study-scrutinizes-carbon-capture/?scp=1&sq=environmental%20issues&st=cse

My article for the week discusses the unintended consequences of carbon capture and storage (C.C.S) technology. A study from the University of Toronto's Munk Center for International Studies found there could be a huge environmental consequence of holding large amounts of carbon dioxide so close to the earth's mantel that was never seen before. They use this technique "for pumping carbon dioxide into dwindling oil wells to force out the remaining crude. The hazards something like this faces include the following.

• Scale: deep geological carbon dioxide storage would go from 5 megatons per year to more than 22,000 megatons annually by the end of the century. Thomas states "this will involve extensive new facilities and pipelines that would rival the world's oil industry infrastructure."


• Water contamination: The amounts of CO2 being dispursed is so large that experts fear the CO2 will actually displace the brine, instead of dissolving or binding with subterranean mineral deposits. This would end up contaminating the groundwater reserves.


• Water use: "The process required to capture and then compress carbon dioxide at a conventional coal-fired plant will need much more water than the same plany without carbon capture technology becaust carbon capture technology is energy-intensive."


• Unexpected leaks: earthquakes, geological fractures and old oil well all have a great potential of releasing CO2. Although the CO2 is suppose to be trapped under the rock caps, these unexpected occurrances can all release "contaminants buried with the CO2, as well as leaks of a gas that can poison plants, animals and humans.


• Liability: the fact that aquifiers straddle national borders, it would not be clear as to who should be held responsible in the case of an oil leak.

I found it very interesting to see how many different side effects this technique actually has on the planet. It is amazing how people can actually overlook consequences such as these just to get a single resource, in this case, crude oil. This article was very interesting because I did not know this was happening and I feel it is very important seeing the side effects it is having on the environment.