Planet too warm? Bury the CO2

Japan is the latest country to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in deep geo logical formations, oceans or as mineral carbonates. There is good reason. The Land of the Rising Sun is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. It faces the weighty task of cutting them by 25% by 2020 against 1990 levels.

The Japanese project, at Mikawa power station near Fukuoka Prefecture, is a sign of the increasing credibility of CO2 capture and storage. It is the latest in a worldwide foursome: Sleipner field in the North Sea where the Norwegian oil and gas group Statoily captures CO2 and injects it beneath the seabed; The Weyburn-Midale project in Canada; and, Salah in Algeria.

Should India be taking heed? Particularly now, when our cities are reportedly producing less greenhouse gases than Washington, New York and London? Yes and no, says Prabhat Upadhayaya, research associate, climate change division of The Energy and Resources Institute. He says, “Developed countries are supportive of this relatively-new technology. But till concrete results are out, developing countries such as India won’t be comfortable adopting it.”

Cost is obviously a factor but there are safety issues too. What if CO2 deposits from developed countries are sent to the Third World for storage? What if CO2 stored below the surface leaks? Who will take responsibility?

Japan’s unique experiment, called carbon capture and storage (CCS) is being conducted by its Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth. It traps say, 10 tonne of CO2 from flue gas, which is a by-product of the coal that is burnt to produce electricity. Then the CO2 is injected into the ocean using nozzles, pipes and high-pressure chambers.

The Americans seem just as serious about using CO2 capture as a gloriously ‘green’ measure. In September American Electric Power and its French partner, Alstom, conducted an experiment similar to Japan’s in Mountaineer Plant, West Virginia, which is poised to become the world’s first coal-fired power plant to capture and bury some of its CO2. Here, smoke from the plant’s chimney is mixed with an ammonia-based chemical and heated to release CO2. This is compressed into a liquid-like state and injected into a layer of sandstone 7,800 feet below and then into a layer of dolomite 400 feet below that. The liquid will squeeze into the rock’s tiny pores. It is hoped the gas will stay there for millennia. Nearby monitoring wells will evaluate storage conditions. The project will operate for about five years and can store about 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 annually.

India’s independent power producers would prefer a wait-and-watch policy. Harry Dhaul, D-G, Independent Power Producers Association of India says it’s early days yet for CCS. “There are many questions that need to be answered: what kind of market structure will it have, how much carbon will you capture, who will finance it....Abroad, governments support such initiatives.”

But the developed world is serious about carbon capture. The US is investing $2.4 billion in the technology and hopes to establish it within a decade, its energy secretary Steven Chu recently said. Ten ‘demonstration’ plants will be up and running by 2016. Europe is also aiming for a similar number of coal-fired plants with this technology by 2015.

Time for India to give carbon capture another look?