Dreams for carbon storage face tough reality check

Posted by: erochon | 27 May 09 | 3 comments
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erochon

New out today is a Greenpeace briefing that should temper the enthusiasm behind the notion that those companies and countries behind current and future CO2 storage projects have everything under control. As you may already know, CO2 storage is one of the key components of CCS- an unproven technology that claims to make coal safe for the climate.

The briefing, titled Reality Check on Carbon Storage illustrates that a wide range of issues regarding the safety, efficacy and permanency of carbon dioxide storage remain unresolved. Unfortunately, these critical knowledge gaps have not stopped governments from committing hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money to support the development of CCS.Oh, and never mind the fact that CCS won't be ready before 2020. Governments seem hell bent on proving CCS so they can keep burning coal, regardless of the cost.

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Comments (3)

  • Permalink daniellewhite86 on May 27, 2009
    Wow! Thanks so much for sharing the post!hope dreams soon become true. 
  • Permalink johnburton on June 01, 2009
    The risks from carbon dioxide storage in underground sites are insignificant compared to the urgency of this method of reducing emissions.
    The IPCC said it was an essential componento f reduction of CO2 emissions.
  • Permalink Steve K. on June 02, 2009
    Human nature being what it is - accidents are bound to happen. To even approach guaranteeing the safety and security of a CCS project will require a huge investment in continuous monitoring. And even if all of this could be accomplished, how can there be any guarantee that some terrorist or other nut-job won’t sabotage (or threaten to sabotage) a transmission or storage site? Why take that chance? Why go to such extreme measures technologically and financially to put in place such a tenuous system, when there are cheaper and saner alternatives?

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About Me

erochon


Since July 2007, I have been working for Greenpeace International as a climate and energy campaigner. At the moment, I am leading our international Quit Coal project which has me traveling around the world learning about coal, campaigning against it and promoting sustainable solutions.

I grew up in Rhode Island and moved overseas after completing my graduate studies in Environmental Toxicology. I left behind my mother, two sisters and a cat. Since leaving the States, I have visited more than 15 countries on three different continents. Needless to say, it has been an incredible journey.


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