Global • GHG EMISSIONS BP Amoco, Chevron, Norsk Hydro, Royal Dutch/Shell, Statoil, Suncor and Texaco have announced a joint venture to develop techniques for separation and storage of CO2 from industrial and power generation sources. The move, which will see each company invest $20 million, is part of attempts to reduce global warming. The CO2 Capture Project, led by BP Amoco, will store the CO2 in geologic structures and is partly based on experience of injecting CO2 into oil wells to increase yield. The project is also seeking the support of governments in Europe and North America.
In other carbon sequestration news, a recent article in New Scientist has resurrected the idea of fertilising the oceans to boost marine plant growth and thus carbon absorption. It is suggested that a gas-fired plant in Chile would pump fertiliser into the sea through a 100 km pipeline. The estimated cost per tonne of CO2 fixed through this method is $5-15, considerably less than other methods. The project, if developed, would allow Chile to claim carbon credits which could then be resold.
Less controversially, and perhaps more realistically, a Canadian investment company GEMco, is paying farmers to not plow some 2.5 million acres of land. Each acre of land left fallow, it is estimated, will absorb around 1 tonne of CO2 per year. GEMco is developing the idea in the hope that regulators will recognise such actions and will award carbon credits Carbon sequestration is growing in popularity as the costs of removal at source become apparent. Generation produce around one third of all US anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the costs of extraction from smoke-stacks would be prohibitive. Apart from the commercial value of carbon credits, the technology could have application in the developing world.
