Energy and Changes in the Environment - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 61

below the seafloor.
The U.S. Department of Energy has a test project to drill a 10,000-foot
well in West Virginia and pump carbon dioxide into the deep rock.
Tapped-out oil and gas fields are full of drill holes that could leak the
carbon dioxide. The stored gas might also seep into groundwater pools.
But the North Sea project seems to be working well. Seismic images under
the ocean floor show that a thick layer of clay capping the sandstone is
sealing in the millions of tons of carbon dioxide injected.
Other researchers are working on projects that would allow the
burning of fossil fuels. Researchers at Princeton are exploring a technology
that would take the carbon out of coal. In this multistep process the coal
reacts with oxygen and steam to make pure hydrogen that could be burned
to produce electricity or used in hydrogen-powered cars. The byproducts are
mostly carbon dioxide but there are also the contaminants that coal-burning
plant now emit, such as sulfur and mercury. These would be buried.
Vegetational carbon banks would compete with agriculture for land
and nutrient resources. It is estimated that a land area about the size of
Alaska would need to be planted with fast-growing trees over the next
50 years to use up about half the projected fossil-fuel-induced CO 2 at a
cost of about $250 billion or $50 per person for the global population. One
problem is that once the trees are fully grown they no longer take up CO 2
very rapidly and would need to be cleared so new trees could be planted
to continue a quicker uptake. Old trees could be used for lumber, but not
fuel, since this would release the CO 2 . If used as fuel, a delay of 50 years,
(the typical growth time) would occur and move up the buildup rate of
atmospheric CO 2 .
Other proposals for counteracting global warming from the
greenhouse effect include releasing dust or other particles to reflect away
part of the solar energy normally absorbed by earth. This could work on a
global average basis, but the mechanisms of warming and cooling would
vary and large regional climatic changes could still occur.
CONSERVING ENERGY
Energy conservation can help reduce the impact of several current
problems. Increasing energy efficiency could reduce or delay atmosphere
pollution from many fronts while improving national security through
increased energy independence. The environmental effects of carbon