Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Carbon dioxide

Showing posts with label Carbon dioxide. Show all posts

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Record-High Greenhouse Gas Concentrations

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Record_High_Greenhouse_Gas_Concentrations_999.html

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for instance, has risen by about 40 % since pre-industrial times. Within the last few years, the average annual increase has been 0.5 %. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Record_H...ations_999.html Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 02, 2010 The increase in carbon dioxide concentrations is also seen in the measurements made by the Finnish Meteorological Institute at the Pallas station, where the annual increase has been 2.0 ppm. The increase continued last year, too. These measurements also reflect the impact of seasonal variation: forests act as effective carbon sinks during the growing season, whereas in the autumn and winter the soil is a source of carbon.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has participated in the GAW programme since 1994. The GAW measurement station maintained by the Institute is located on the peak of Sammaltunturi mountain in the Yllas-Pallastunturi National Park. At present, corresponding measurements are also made at a station set up in Tiksi, in Siberia.
The GAW programme of the WMO has measurement stations in about 50 countries all over the world. These stations monitor long-term changes that take place in the chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere.
Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), established by the World Meteorological Organization, is a global programme for monitoring the atmosphere. The programme plays a central role in monitoring greenhouse gases that affect climate change.
The latest observations from GAW stations indicate that the concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases have reached new records despite the economic slowdown and the international action taken to reduce them.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for instance, has risen by about 40 % since pre-industrial times. Within the last few years, the average annual increase has been 0.5 %.
The amount of methane has also been rising again since 2007. The increase stems from tropical and Arctic regions where temperatures have been warmer than normally.
In fact, the increasing methane emissions from Arctic regions have been listed as a major concern because the melting of northern permafrost areas may release great volumes of methane into the atmosphere.

Record-high greenhouse gas concentrations (eurekalert.org)
More evidence accumulates of record greenhouse gases and warming temperatures. (climatecentral.org)
UN: Greenhouse gases at highest level since pre-industrial times (guardian.co.uk)
UN says greenhouse gases reached record levels in 2009 (theglobeandmail.com)
"Greenhouse gases 'rise to record levels in 2009'" and related posts (wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com)
U.N.: Greenhouse Gases at Record Levels (time.com)
Greenhouse Gases In Atmosphere Hit Record Levels (huffingtonpost.com)

Monday, November 15, 2010

Leaking Underground CO2 Storage Could Contaminate Drinking Water

This is not good news for coal

"The fear of drinking water contamination from CO2 leaks is one of several sticking points about CCS and has contributed to local opposition to it," says Jackson, who directs Duke's Center on Global Change.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Leaking_Underground_CO2_Storage_Could_Contaminate_Drinking_Water_999.html Durham NC (SPX) Nov 15, 2010 Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a study by Duke University scientists. Based on a year-long analysis of core samples from four drinking water aquifers, "We found the potential for contamination is real, but there are ways to avoid or reduce the risk," says Robert B. Jackson, Nicholas Professor of Global Environmental Change and professor of biology at Duke.
"Geologic criteria that we identified in the study can help identify locations around the country that should be monitored or avoided," he says. "By no means would all sites be susceptible to problems of water quality."
Storing carbon dioxide deep below Earth's surface, a process known as geosequestration, is part of a suite of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies being developed by governments and industries worldwide to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions entering Earth's atmosphere.
The still-evolving technologies are designed to capture and compress CO2, emissions at their source - typically power plants and other industrial facilities - and transport the CO2 to locations where it can be injected far below the Earth's surface for long-term storage.
The U.S. Department of Energy, working with industry and academia, has begun the planning for at least seven regional CCS projects.
"The fear of drinking water contamination from CO2 leaks is one of several sticking points about CCS and has contributed to local opposition to it," says Jackson, who directs Duke's Center on Global Change.
"We examined the idea that if CO2 leaked out slowly from deep formations, where might it negatively impact freshwater aquifers near the surface, and why."
Jackson and his postdoctoral fellow Mark G. Little collected core samples from four freshwater aquifers around the nation that overlie potential CCS sites and incubated the samples in their lab at Duke for a year, with CO2 bubbling through them.
After a year's exposure to the CO2, analysis of the samples showed that "there are a number of potential sites where CO2 leaks drive contaminants up tenfold or more, in some cases to levels above the maximum contaminant loads set by the EPA for potable water," Jackson says.
Three key factors - solid-phase metal mobility, carbonate buffering capacity and electron exchanges in the overlying freshwater aquifer - were found to influence the risk of drinking water contamination from underground carbon leaks.
The study also identified four markers that scientists can use to test for early warnings of potential carbon dioxide leaks.
"Along with changes in carbonate concentration and acidity of the water, concentrations of manganese, iron and calcium could all be used as geochemical markers of a leak, as their concentration increase within two weeks of exposure to CO2," Jackson says.
The study was funded by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory and Duke's Center on Global Change.
The study appears in the online edition of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirements for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry

Reporting targets methane, a potent greenhouse gas and valuable fuel

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements for the petroleum and natural gas industries as part of the mandatory reporting program. The petroleum and natural gas industries emit methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and are one of the largest human related sources of methane in the United States. Annual methane emissions from intentional venting and equipment leaks from these industries are comparable to annual emissions from more than 40 million passenger cars.

The data collected through the reporting program will provide important information about GHG emissions from petroleum and natural gas facilities. While methane is a potent greenhouse gas, trapping more than 20 times as much heat as carbon dioxide, it is also the primary component of natural gas, a valuable fuel. The data collected by the companies will help identify cost effective ways to minimize the loss of methane.

Beginning in 2011, petroleum and natural gas facilities that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year are required to monitor and report all greenhouse gas emissions to EPA. Data collection for petroleum and natural gas sources will begin January 1, 2011, with first annual reports due to EPA March 31, 2012.

EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, launched in October 2009, requires the reporting of GHG emissions data from large emission sources and fuel suppliers across a range of industry sectors. The data will help guide the development of programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information on this rulemaking: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/subpart/w.html

For more information on the GHG Reporting Program:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Leaking underground CO2 storage could contaminate drinking water

Leaking underground CO2 storage could contaminate drinking water
Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a study by Duke University scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-leaking-underground-co2-storage-contaminate.html

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Study: Worst CO2 emissions are yet to come

image credit: kleineolive (Wikimedia Commons)

Future fossil fuel infrastructure set to be built between now and 2060 will have the strongest effect on climate change, according to a report in the journal Science.
The global demand for energy is quickly rising, while political agreements and regulations to curb the resultant rise in greenhouse gas emissions have so far failed.
A new study from scientists in the US and Canada has calculated that most of the ‘key’ impacts of climate change could be avoided if no further CO2 power plants were built and that the real risks come from fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure which has yet to be built.
While previous policies have largely focused on regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a tactic that has so far not produced their desired results, the new study stresses the need for alternative sources of energy and technological innovation.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Can CO2 Be Stored Safely Underground