Federal energy officials have joined scientists worldwide in
studying the disposal of carbon dioxide as a way of slowing down the
The US Department of Energy has funded two carbon "sequestration"
programs - one on land and one in the deep ocean - for $9 million.
In September, it announced another $18 million in research grants.
Scientists are just now beginning to examine the disposal of
carbon dioxide, one of the primary greenhouse gases linked to global
warming. The idea is to get rid of carbon dioxide from factories,
cars, and other sources of fossil fuel burning before the odorless
gas reaches the atmosphere.
"This is to find out which carbon sequestration options are the
best in the future and which ones will be verifiable," DOE program
manager John Houghton says about the new research grants. "We're
concerned about this in the long term."
Other countries have already begun pilot projects. A state-owned
Norwegian petroleum company, for example, has been pumping 1 million
tons of liquified carbon dioxide each year into depleted natural gas
aquifers below the North Sea since 1996. Japan is conducting
research into deep-ocean disposal, and others have suggested
funneling liquified carbon dioxide into abandoned coal or salt
mines, or perhaps bubbling it through CO2-scrubbing algae ponds.
Because of the vast areas available, ocean-disposal is seen as
the most practical method of carbon disposal - as long as it doesn't
alter the ocean chemistry and harm marine life.
The world's largest deep-ocean sequestration project is scheduled
to begin next year off the coast of Hawaii. The $5 million, four-
year experiment will pump liquified CO2 from a laboratory in Kona,
Hawaii, through a flexible pipe, down to nearly 3,000 feet. Funded
mainly by Japan with assistance from the US, Canada, and Australia,
the project still faces environmental reviews from local officials.
Despite these international efforts, the US government has balked
at this new field of research because of political concerns,
according to federal officials. Some members of Congress believe
that carbon sequestration will lead to a de facto passage of the
international climate change treaty known as the Kyoto Protocols (a
treaty signed by President Clinton and opposed by the Senate). And
some environmentalists oppose sequestration because they believe it
will allow industry to continue burning fuels that cause the problem
in the first place.
Scientists themselves also question whether injecting CO2 into
the ocean could be dangerous to sea creatures, or just prove to be
too expensive. …