Carbon Sequestration

Sana Ehsan 1218

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Defining Carbon Sequestration

the process of capture
and long-term storage of
atmospheric carbon
dioxide

OR
removing carbon from the atmosphere and
depositing it in a reservoir
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Consequences Of CS

 Before human-caused CO2 emissions natural

processes maintained a near balance between
the uptake of CO2 and its release back to the
atmosphere.

However, existing CO2 uptake mechanisms

(sinks) are insufficient to offset the accelerating
pace of emissions related to human activities.
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What is carbon dioxide capture

set of
and sequestration?

technologies

can greatly reduce CO2 emissions from new and

existing coal- and gas-fired power plants and
large industrial sources.
Three-step process
Capture of CO2 from power plants or industrial
processes
Transport of the captured and compressed
CO2 (usually in pipelines).
Underground injection and geologic sequestration
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Why is it important?
in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
enabling low-carbon electricity generation
from power plants
more than 40% of CO2 emissions in the United
States are from electric power generation
CCS technologies are currently available and
can dramatically reduce (by 80-90%)
CO2 emissions from power plants that burn
fossil fuels.
.
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Sequestration methods
enhancing the storage of carbon in soil
(soil sequestration)
enhancing the storage in forests and other vegetation
(plant sequestration)
storing carbon in underground geological formations
(geo sequestration)
storing carbon in the ocean
(ocean sequestration)
chemical reactions to form inorganic carbonates
(mineral carbonation)
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Soil Sequestration
soils contains 700-3000 Gt of carbon
>3 times the amount of carbon stored in
the atmosphere as CO2
soil carbon
land clearing & cultivation
Managing agricultural soils to organic
carbon content
improve soil health and productivity
essential nutrients

water-holding capacity
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Management practices
increase C content (soil)
low-tillage or no tillage
use of manures and compost
conversion of monoculture systems to
diverse systems
crop rotations
winter cover crops
perennial vegetation on steep slopes
An alternative and promising approach
biochar
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Plant Sequestration
Plants use sunlight energy - convert CO 2
from the atm. to carbohydrates
for their growth and maintenance,
photosynthesis.
one third of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel
combustion already sequester by Natural
terrestrial biological sinks.
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significant shorter-term
contribution to c.c
mitigation.

uptake of CO2 decreases as plants grow to their

full capacity

Biological storage could be enhanced through

agricultural

forestry
practice
s

revegetation

the capacity is limited and longevity of storage

depends on the final fate of the timber or plant
material
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Geosequestration
Underground injection and storage of
GHGs
3 component scheme of CCS
1.capture of CO2 either before or after
combustion of the fuel
2.transport of the captured CO 2 to the site of
storage, and
3.injection and storage of the CO 2.
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 predominantly aimed at mitigating emissions

of CO2, but geo-sequestration may also
prove to be applicable to other greenhouse
gases.
long-term storage options
most promising due to higher confidence in
the longevity of storage; large capacity of
potential storage sites; and generally greater
understanding of the mechanisms of storage.
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Ocean sequestration
the largest carbon store on earth
inject CO2 directly into the deep ocean to
utilise its enormous storage capacity
Models suggest that CO2 injected into the
deep ocean would remain isolated from the
atmosphere for several centuries,
enhance the ocean carbon involves large
scale ocean fertilisation with iron to stimulate
phytoplankton growth and photosynthesis
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Mineral sequestration
known as mineral carbonation
reaction of CO2 with metal oxides that are
present in common, naturally occurring
silicate rocks.
results in natural carbonate products that
are stable on a geological time scale
natural reaction is slow
accelerated
through
energy-intensive
preparation of the reactants
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Why action is needed now

CO2 emissions equivalent to more than the total
amount of carbon stored in U.S. forests
trends continue double by 2050 and increase by a
factor of three to four by 2100.
According to the IPCC Report 2007, sequestration
and reduction of emissions over the next two to
three decades will potentially have a substantial
impact on long-term opportunities to stabilize levels
of atmospheric CO2 and mitigate impacts of
climate change.

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Carbon Offsets
Reduction in emissions of CO2 or GHGs
made in order to compensate an emission
made elsewhere.
Eg. planting trees to offset ones gas
emissions from driving a car to work every
day.
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References
Roger, S. and Brent, S. (2012). Carbon Sequestration in
Forests and Soils. Annual Review of Resource Economics. 4,
127144.
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/glossary/items/3666.ph
p#C
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration#cite_note-6
Chris, H. (2008). Squaring the Circle on Coal - Carbon
Capture and Storage (CCS) Claverton Group conference,
Bath 24-26 October.
Pacala, S. and Socolow, R. (2004) Stabilization wedgessolving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current
technologies. Science. 305, 968-972.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3097/pdf/CarbonFS.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ccs/
http://www.epa.gov/aml/revital/cseqfact.pdf

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 http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/analysis/stavins/?p=225.
MIT (2007) the Future of Coal: Options for a CarbonConstrained World , Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
2007.
Post, W. M., Emanuel, W. R., Zinke, P. J. and Stangenberger,
A. G. (1982). Soil carbon pools and world life zones. Nature.
298, 1569.
Goodward, J. and Kelly, A. (2010). Bottom Line on Offsets.
World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
Hagen, V.B. and Burnett, M. (2006). Emerging markets for
carbon stored by Northwest forests. In: Forests, carbon and
climate change: a synthesis of science findings. Portland, OR:
Oregon Forest Resources Institute: 131155.
Pacala, S. and Socolow, R. (2004). Stabilization wedgessolving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current
technologies: Science. 305, 968-972.

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