5 Million Tons of CO2 Pumped Underground

The Department of Energy has successfully pumped five million tons of carbon dioxide underground. The carbon dioxide is from a coal gasification plant in North Dakota and has been pumped underground to a Canadian oil field. This technology sounds very promising because it could significantly reduce CO2 emissions into our atmosphere while increasing the oil production of a given oil field.

When I heard about this successful test, I was very interested. This technology is highly suggested by Deffeyes in his book Beyond Oil. I hope to hear more about this technology in the future as it is implimented in more places. It seems to me a win-win situation for global warming and oil companies. The technology sounds like it could make a significant dent in our carbon dioxide emissions. The article I read states that if the process were used in all the oil fields of western Canada, “we would see billions of additional barrels of oil and a reduction of CO2 emissions equivalent to pulling more than 200 million cars off the road for a year.”

Click here to read the article.

Beyond Oil: The View From Hubbert’s Peak by Kenneth S. Deffeyes 2005

I just finished reading Beyond Oil by Deffeyes. The main point of the book is that world oil production has peaked and we need to find alternatives to fill the energy gap that will be created as oil production drops off. Deffeyes points out that heavy investment in research and development of alternatives should have started fifteen years ago. We need to start such research now, but that won’t help us in the next five to ten years. Deffeyes presents a few existing technologies that we need to focus on in the near term.

1. High Efficiency Diesel Engines: Current technology can achieve 90+ miles
per gallon and using new computer controls can reduce some of the engine pollution.
2. Coal Fired Electric Plants: Trap the carbon dioxide produced when the coal is burned and pump it underground to enhance oil recovery.
3. Wind Turbines: Turbine technology is well developed and Wyoming (and other locations) has lots of wind.
4. Nuclear Plants: Learn to stop worrying and love the cheap electricity.

Deffeyes also points out a few actions individuals can take to help the energy problem.

1. Buy a Hybrid Car and/or Move closer to work
2. Buy Local Crops to reduce food transportation energy
3. Switch to Fluorescent and LED Lighting
4. Upgrade Home insulation

For the most part I agree with Deffeyes. High efficiency diesel engines will certainly reduce the amount of oil we use, but I think hybrid engines and existing fuel cell technology should be used as well to limit the air pollution from diesel engines. Or what about a hybrid diesel-electric engine? I haven’t heard anything about that concept.

Coal electric plants make me nervous because of the air pollution they cause. Trapping the CO2 and other pollutants from the coal and storing them underground sounds great. My only question is do we really have the technology already to trap CO2? If we do, why haven’t we implemented that already?

Further implementation of wind turbines is a great idea, though I’d also add other alternative energy sources such as solar and geothermal to Deffeyes’ list.

Nuclear energy makes me worry as well. Maybe Deffeyes is right, that we need to stop worrying so much about nuclear energy, and enjoy its benefits. I’m not so much worried about the electric plant exploding as I am about the nuclear waste. Deffeyes points out the physical size of the nuclear waste produced is relatively small. That makes me feel good, but the waste has to be contained for 15,000 to 240,000 years. How exactly are we going to do that? 15,000 years is so long, it’s really beyond comprehension. We have no idea how much change the earth could go through in that time. Nuclear fusion sounds like a great solution. Deffeyes says it produces no radioactive waste, but is at least 20 years away.

The individual actions suggested by Deffeyes to reduce our energy consumption all make very good sense. I’ve heard about taking such actions before, so this wasn’t anything new to me.

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed in the book, but my disappointment was really my own fault. I didn’t do much research into this book before I purchased it and started reading. The title alone seemed reason enough to get the book. My disappointment was largely due to the fact the book primarily discusses the state of oil in the world and other possible fossil fuel replacements, such as natural gas, coal, tar sands, and oil shale. I feel we need to move away from fossil fuels by using renewable energy sources and promoting energy efficiency and conservation. The book does discuss nuclear and hydrogen energy options, but does not discuss renewable energy sources in any depth. The book sticks to the topics that Deffeyes is familiar with. He is a geologist and therefore most renewables are outside his realm of expertise. I would still have expected some discussion of geothermal energy.

I did find the overall conclusion and message of the book very interesting. I knew world oil was running out, but I didn’t realize we are already at or past the peak.

Favorite Quotes

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist." - Kenneth E. Boulding

"The absolute simplicity. That's what I love. When you are climbing your mind is clear. Free of all confusion. You have focus. And suddenly the light becomes sharper, sounds are richer, and you are filled with the deep, powerful presence of life." - Brad Pitt (Heinrich Harrer) in Seven Years in Tibet

Hybrid Cars and Fuel Cells are old Technology

Gas electric Hybrid cars have been around since at least 1970. Fuel Cells were used during NASA's Apollo missions during the 1960s. The reason these technologies aren't more prevalent today is simply that there hasn't been significant push to develop the technologies until more recently.

I am mentioning this fact because the other night I was early for my graduate class at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Since I had a few minutes I was looking at the posters in the hallway. One of them was called "Mechanical Engineering Through the Years." It had a bunch of old photos, one of which was a group of guys and an old car with "WPI Hybrid Electric" on the side. I looked into it a little more and found out the car was for a Clean Car Race back in 1970. The race was organized by several colleges to raise awareness of the significant air pollution coming from automobiles.

It's hard to believe that such an event took place 35 years ago considering the lack of progress made towards cleaner vehicles.

Evangelical's Push to Curb Global Warming - What will Bush do Now?

The National Association of Evangelicals plans to release a statement calling for mandatory greenhouse gas controls. The statement will be signed by over 35 evangelical leaders from across the US. The evangelicals believe there is a moral obligation to preserve the Earth.

It will be very interesting to see if such a statement causes any change in Bush's stance on climate change. Bush will be caught between his conservative base, which based on this news is pushing for climate change legislation, and his industry base which has opposed such legislation. I would think the conservative base holds more votes than a few industry lobbyists. I hope that means Bush will choose to go along with the evangelicals and support climate change legislation.

I always thought it was weird that saying the environment was considered a liberal idea. The word conservation is the same root as conservative, so by definition environmental conservation is a conservative idea. Saving the environment is resisting change. It is preserving the environment in its original state. That is a conservative idea. Maybe the conservatives have finally figured this out and the liberals and conservatives will now agree and we'll make some progress. We can only hope.

Read the article at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network