Originally published September 6 2005
Atmospheric scientists believe increases in carbon dioxide have caused Earth's surface temperature to rise
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The world is poised to generate huge volumes of carbon dioxide in the next two and a half decades, and experts say the need to capture the planet-heating gas and store it in safe places is becoming urgent and increasingly feasible.
With the world poised to generate huge volumes of carbon dioxide in the next 25 years, experts say the need to capture the planet-heating gas and store it in safe places is becoming urgent _ and increasingly feasible.
Using available technologies, carbon dioxide (CO2) can be captured and pumped into geologic formations deep underground, scientists say.
The technique might add as little as 25 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline or $40 a month to a typical residential electric bill, a Princeton University scientist estimates, and the cost would be expected to fall as innovations are developed.
Many fear the concentration is approaching the point known as '`dangerous anthropogenic interference,'' when altered weather patterns, rising and acidified seas, and other unforeseen changes could bring about global havoc.
The scale of the imminent increases is illustrated by a United Nations projection that the amount of electricity produced in the world's coal-burning power plants will double between 2002 and 2030.
``If we're going to build that many coal plants, we're going to make one hell of an impact on the planet,'' Socolow said.
The procedure would add $200 to the cost of using a ton of coal, but Chizmeshya said this is dramatically below the estimated cost when they started working on the system five years ago.
The alternative approach of injecting the captured CO2 underground would not be a totally new technology.
In fact, the energy industry now injects compressed carbon dioxide into the ground to pressurize oil or gas reserves and make it easier to get the fuel out of the ground.
``Investment in technology is, I think, necessary, but there will be no actual the large-scale implementation of the technology until it is cheaper to put it underground than to pay the tax to emit it,'' he said.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml