CO2: They Should Bottle That Stuff

There's no word for the sound you hear upon opening a can of soda. But the tchk-ptoop-fshchss! of a top being popped is distinctive, immediately recognizable. It is the sound of carbonation — or CO2 — rushing from the can. And it's a sound that brings to mind a technology, much overlooked in the popular press, that could safely recapture and store much of that emitted carbon, and has the potential to prevent an impending climate catastrophe.

The CO2 in carbonated drinks is the same CO2 that is spewed from tailpipes and power plants and causes global warming. In fact, the CO2 that makes the bubbles in your soda comes from those same power plants. Instead of being released into the atmosphere as a global-warming gas, the CO2 is captured from power plant exhaust, purified and sold to the nation's bottlers and soft drink fountain suppliers. When you pop the tab, however, the CO2 escapes into the atmosphere anyway.

But there's a silver lining. The same process that captures CO2 from power plants to make drinks fizzy is the one half of a process that has the potential to capture and stash as much as 90% of all CO2 from coal-burning power plants. Engineers and scientists are working on several ways to catch the carbon, either before or after coal burns. One technology known as integrated gasification combined cycle, or IGCC, would turn the coal into gas before it's burned for energy; gasifying it releases the carbon for capture, transportation, and sequestration deep underground. Another process, called "oxy-coal" combustion, removes nitrogen from air before combustion; when coal is burned, the waste gas is close to pure CO2, which can be easily captured.

Scientists and engineers hope to pump this captured carbonation through mile-long straws that reach deep into the Earth's crust, into salt mines, aquifers and oil fields. Underground, the pressure will liquefy it and perhaps eventually turn it to rock. Think of it as "geo-bottling" — except we never want to pop the cap. From Houston to Huainan, scientists are already digging holes and pumping down CO2 by the ton. "The carbon belongs underground," Susan Hovorka, a geologist at the University of Texas, Austin, told one of us in 2005. "I say, put it back."

Today, the CO2 captured for producing soda is only a very small percentage of the total CO2 from power plants, but the technology for large-scale carbon capture and storage looks to be just around the corner. Spurring action from industry and governments has proved difficult, however, because the long-term economic, social and environmental costs of CO2 pollution are not included in the price we pay for energy. That makes CO2-intensive sources of energy like coal-fired power plants look like a better deal than cleaner technologies. But the truth is, it's a "pay me now, or pay me later" situation. In the context of climate change, it's more like, "pay me now, or your kids will pay me even more later."

Fortunately, a combination of efficient markets and smart policy could level the playing field. A carbon-storage industry will be virtually impossible without a national policy that puts a price on CO2 pollution. One such policy involves the creation of a national cap for greenhouse gas emissions and an accompanying market for tradable carbon emission credits. This summer, the U.S. Senate will likely consider legislation that would set up such a market. By making carbon a pollutant and unleashing market forces to find a price for it, the nation will essentially be revealing fossil fuels' true social cost — and giving cleaner technologies, including carbon capture and storage, a fair shot.

Even before the federal government creates a national cap — which is generally considered inevitable — the economy will need a bridge, economic nudges, so that the private sector can test carbon capture and storage before scaling it up. More than 30 states are looking at legislation that would give carbon storage technology a boost. Some call for comprehensive studies of the technology, while in Wyoming — one of several states identified as having underground carbon storage potential — laws are already being written to address questions about ownership of and liability for the underground CO2 vaults. These laws will help U.S. "geo-bottling" incubate while the federal government catches up to state and private efforts. At Duke University's Climate Change Policy Partnership, for example, researchers are modeling optimal routes for gas pipelines, based on engineering, social and environmental factors, to move the CO2 from plant to storage site.

There is little doubt that we'll need help from many new technologies to fight the inexorable rise in greenhouse gas emissions. And indeed, reversing emission trends is truly an all-hands-on-deck affair. But to achieve the targets talked about in current legislation — and notably by each of the presidential candidates — reducing carbon from our power production has to be disproportionately responsible for overall progress. If thorny questions surrounding carbon capture and storage are not answered, and if the technology is not implemented soon, we will have lost precious time in the quest to ward off irreparable consequences of climate change.

Today we bottle CO2 to make soda. Tomorrow we need to be bottling industrial carbon on a grand scale. It's something to think about when you take a soda break on this Earth Day. Pop the tab — tchk-ptoop-fshchss! — drink, think, and, of course, don't forget to recycle.

Environment agency warns government over climate change damage

http://www.enn.com/climate/article/38009

Lord Smith, the new head of the Environment Agency, this week gave a cautionary warning to the government over the folly of continuing with climate damaging super projects like the third runway at Heathrow, and the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. He also highlighted the threat that climate change induced sea level rises and coastal erosion will have on the UK’s coast line and that tough choices would have to be made over whether to defend threatened communities.

The World Development Movement has also put two and two together; stating that plans for a new coal power plant are completely incompatible with plans to tackle climate change. And that huge areas of Kent’s coastline will be seriously threatened by predicted sea level rises, demonstrating the sad irony of stationing a new carbon belching coal power station in the very same area.

Millions of people all over the world are already suffering as a result of climate change. It is usually the poorest people who are left most vulnerable to increasingly severe weather phenomena such as typhoons and flooding. For coastal communities in the UK, Bangladesh, the Philippines and across the globe, whose homes, jobs and unfortunately lives are threatened, the government must be resolute in its ambition to tackle climate change. It cannot be, or even give the illusion of, being serious about this if it says yes to new runways and new coal power stations.

First Africa Carbon Forum Fosters Clean Climate Projects

DAKAR, Senegal, September 4, 2008 (ENS) - To help Africa obtain its fair share of climate emissions reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism and satisfy a growing interest in a carbon market on the continent, the International Emissions Trading Association on Wednesday launched the first all Africa Carbon Forum at Le Meridien Preisdent Hotel in Dakar.

Henry Derwent, president of the International Emissions Trading Association, said his association of 186 international companies "is excited to be the private sector partner, helping to bring on board essential business participation in a landmark, Africa-wide event."

The association is developing an active, global greenhouse gas market, consistent across national boundaries and involving all flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol - the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and emissions trading.

Under the Clean Development Mechanism, projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to sustainable development, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency or tree planting, can earn saleable certified emission reduction credits, CERs. Countries with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce their emissions can use the CERs to meet part of those obligations.

Senegal, the host country, with just one Clean Development Mechanism project in the validation-registration pipeline, sees potential in the CDM and is eager to scale up participation.

"Africa represents a small fraction of the CDM projects worldwide, but this can change. Senegal sees this kind of forum as an effective means to spark that change," said Madické Niang, Senegal's interim minister of state and environment.

Today, forum participants attended sessions addressing financing barriers in Africa, the significance of voluntary carbon markets for Africa, energy efficiency, and project financing and pricing of CERs. In the evening, participants explored matchmaking opportunities.

The forum is taking place under the umbrella of the Nairobi Framework, launched in November 2006 by UN agencies with the goal of helping developing countries, especially those in sub-Sahara Africa, to improve their level of participation in the CDM.

The continent accounts for just 27 of the more than 1,150 Clean Development Mechanism projects now registered in 49 developing countries.

Still, the number of projects in Africa is growing, and the projects already in place are expected to stimulate nearly $4 billion worth of capital investment.

There are about another 2,000 projects in the CDM project validation-registration pipeline.

The UN's top climate change official Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was in Dakar Wednesday to open the forum and expressed his satisfaction with the work to date.

"Combating climate change will take political will, and it will take a great deal of investment. Mechanisms like the CDM are an important means to stimulate that investment, so it's good to see that Africa is now getting the attention it deserves from the private sector and public sector through events like the Africa Carbon Forum," said de Boer.

"What the world needs is a global, low-emissions economic development plan that makes climate-friendly economic growth globally viable," he said.

"Africa is the continent hardest hit by climate change yet benefits least from the current international climate change regime, a situation which cries out for concerted engagement by African leaders in the current round of climate change negotiations," de Boer told the carbon market stakeholders and government representatives.

The energy sector is responsible for by far the largest share of global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, de Boer said.

According to the International Energy Agency, global energy demand will grow by 55 percent by 2030. Until then, the energy supply infrastructure worldwide will require a total investment of $22 trillion, with about half of that in developing countries, he said.

"Meeting Africa's energy needs would require about $1.5 trillion. This means that we face the challenge of greening this massive investment sum by creating win-win opportunities for the money to be invested in low-emissions technologies, such as renewable energies. If we fail to achieve this, emissions will go up by 50 percent, instead of down by 50 percent, as science says they should," said de Boer.

The UN Development Programme, UN Environment Programme, the World Bank and the UNFCCC secretariat have joined to implement the Nairobi Framework.

They would welcome more partners, as well as additional financial support as work to date has been funded from existing resources.

Konrad von Ritter, sector manager for sustainable development at the World Bank Institute, said that due, in part, to improved coordination under the Nairobi Framework, Africa is increasing its capacity to handle CDM projects and growing its pipeline of projects.

"We've seen an encouraging number of emission reduction purchase agreements signed, including here in Senegal for an innovative CDM program of activities in rural electrification, and an encouraging level of participation in more and more countries in Africa," von Ritter said.

"Almost daily in the news we see evidence that climate change is a serious threat to international development efforts. We need more investment in CDM projects to help ensure climate change doesn't undermine our efforts to eliminate poverty and reach the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the least developed countries," said Yannick Glemarec, executive coordinator of the UN Development Programme and Global Environmental Facility, an international funding agency for environmental programs.

Bakary Kante, director of the UN Environment Programme's Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, said, "A lot of work is being done to capture the benefits of the CDM in Africa. First and foremost we have to make people aware that this mechanism exists, then remove the barriers to participation through capacity building and private-public sector networking, at events like the Africa Carbon Forum."

For more on the flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol - the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and emissions trading