Environmental technologies - Carbon capture and storage

Title

Air pollution impacts from carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Reference

EEA Technical report No 14/2011

Author(s)

European Environment Agency

Study type

Report

Abstract

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) consists of the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plants and/or CO2-intensive industries such as refineries, cement, iron and steel, its subsequent transport to a storage site, and finally its injection into a suitable underground geological formation for the purposes of permanent storage. It is considered to be one of the medium term 'bridging technologies' in the portfolio of available mitigation actions for stabilising concentrations of atmospheric CO2, the main greenhouse gas (GHG).

Policy theme(s)

Air pollution >> Source of emissions >> Industrial emissions
Climate change and energy >> Climate change mitigation >> Geoengineering
Environmental technologies >> Climate change mitigation >> Carbon capture and storage

Keywords

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

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http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/carbon-capture-and-storage
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Contact the study author at:

http://www.eea.europa.eu/enquiries

Title

Oil Shale as an Energy Resource in a CO2 Constrained World: The Concept of Electricity Production with in Situ Carbon Capture.

Reference

Energy & Fuels, Online March 11, 2011
DOI: 10.1021/ef101714x

Author(s)

Hiren Mulchandani and Adam R. Brandt

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Oil shale contains large amounts of stored chemical energy: over 1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent is present in the Green River formation of the United States alone. Unfortunately, extraction of energy from oil shale generally releases significant quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Liquid hydrocarbon (HC) fuels derived from oil shale have 1.2-1.75 times the fuel cycle GHG emissions of HC fuels produced from conventional oil. This paper proposes a concept that could provide transportation services from oil shale with significantly reduced carbon emissions, called electricity production with in situ carbon capture (EPICC). EPICC reduces CO2 emissions by (1) utilizing waste heat to retort shale; (2) retorting shale beyond the point of liquid hydrocarbon production, converting much of the organic carbon in oil shale to char which is left in the subsurface; and (3) using the produced HC gas to generate electricity, which provides transportation services with no tailpipe emissions. The resulting life cycle GHG emissions from EPICC amount to ≈110 g of CO2 per km, ≈0.5 times those of conventional fuel cycles or ≈0.33 times those from other proposed in situ oil shale conversion processes. Potential drawbacks of EPICC include uncertain operation of subsurface fuel cells, potential geophysical impacts without pressure management, and economic concerns associated with the value of stranded energy left in the formation and the long time period of retorting.

Policy theme(s)

Climate change and energy >> Climate change mitigation >> Low carbon and renewable energy
Environmental technologies >> Climate change mitigation >> Carbon capture and storage

Keywords

N/A

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ef101714x
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Contact the study author at:

abrandt@stanford.edu

Title

Ocean Fertilization: A scientific summary for policy makers

Reference

Author(s)

UNESCO report

Study type

Report

Abstract

Failure to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions effectively has led to intensifying debate on geoengineering - deliberate large-scale schemes to slow the rate at which Earth is heating up. The public debate often mixes opinion with fact so scientists have now released the first summary for policymakers on ocean fertilization, one of the earliest geoengineering proposals. The authors report that the chances of success of using ocean fertilization to deal with climate change is low.
Ocean fertilization involves adding iron or other nutrients to the surface of the ocean to trigger growth of microscopic marine plants.  These plants use dissolved carbon dioxide to grow, which led to the idea that deliberate fertilization of the ocean on a large scale would remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  
 Lead author of the report Professor Doug Wallace from the Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR) says: "The published findings suggest that even very large-scale fertilization would remove only modest amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over 100 years".
 For two decades, marine scientists have been carrying out a series of small-scale fertilization experiments to understand how ocean ecosystems respond to environmental change. However the experiments were not designed to address issues relating to geoengineering. Proposals to scale up this approach to slow climate warming or be included within emissions trading schemes to generate carbon credits have stimulated intense debate and criticism amongst scientists and the public.
The new summary, involving independent scientists from seven countries, explains the complexity of the underlying science and brings the detailed findings together in an accessible form for policymakers.
The summary notes that there are still major knowledge gaps. For example, it is unclear whether findings from small-scale experiments apply fully to larger scales. And a major concern is the possibility of large-scale fertilization having unintended consequences for ecosystems. The summary points out the extreme difficulty of assessing long-term effectiveness or unintended side effects.
"It's vastly more complex than assessing carbon storage in a forest" says Wallace "the carbon, and many of the potential impacts, are largely invisible and likely to be spread over vast distances".
Publication of the summary coincides with a symposium in California (La Jolla) on the ecosystem impacts of proposed geoengineering schemes and organized by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. The one-day symposium, streamed live online, will bring together the world's leading experts in this area of research.

Policy theme(s)

Environmental technologies >> Climate change mitigation >> Carbon capture and storage
Marine ecosystems >> Marine pollution

Keywords

N/A

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001906/190674e.pdf
This study is free to view

Contact the study author at:

http://ioc-unesco.org/