Welcome to our last week discussing technologies helping us solve climate change. To wrap up this blog series we are going to switch gears and discuss carbon capture and storage. Previously we have discussed technologies that help us gather or create usable energy in a cleaner way, but this week we are going to talk about how we can reverse some of the carbon emissions we have already placed in the atmosphere.
So first off, what exactly is carbon capture and storage. Well carbon capture and storage is a three step process that involves gathering carbon emissions from the atmosphere, transporting it, and then burying it deep within the earth. This technique would help to gather all of the emissions produced by using fossil fuels and ‘dirty’ energies, and essentially clean the atmosphere.
This technology sprouted from a need to reach the Paris Climate Agreement standards for carbon emissions within the atmosphere. (If you want to know more about the Paris Climate Agreement check out our blog post about it!) Scientists found that it will not be enough to only reduce emissions, but that technologies needed to be utilized to remove carbon from the atmosphere as well.
You may be thinking, well where is all this carbon stored within the earth. The answer to that is simple. Carbon can be stored in saline aquifers beneath the surface of the earth, or in depleted oil and gas reserves! Because carbon is a natural resource once separated from other gases, it is completely safe to store this carbon, and allows us to repurpose certain areas (like the oil and gas reserves) that are sitting without a purpose after having been depleted. You may also be wondering if this is really possible or feasible within our world. The answer to this is YES. Carbon capture and storage has actually been practiced for ~45 years. The first carbon capture and storage facility was in Texas and since its creation there have been 51 other facilities globally to join it.
While this technology has many positives, and gives us reason to be hopeful for the future or clean energy, there are still some limitations and truffles keeping it from being practiced world-wide. The two big factors are cost and transportation. Like most clean energy solutions, cost is keeping this from becoming a global phenomenon. The technology required to pull carbon from the atmosphere is still expensive, keeping many facilities from being created. The other barrier is transportation. Transporting the carbon from the capture facility to where it will be stored can be a dangerous process, as any leaks could lead to explosions.
Like many renewable energy technologies, these barriers can and will be overcome as soon as the biggest barrier is passed. And that is gaining PUBLIC SUPPORT. The public is still hesitant about this approach, and thus it has been pushed to the backburner. However, as we learn more information about this technology many individuals' opinions are changed, and many fears are quelled.
We hope that this post could help quell some of your uncertainties regarding carbon capture and storage. This also brings our blog series on renewable energy technologies to a close! Thank you for sticking with us for the past several weeks, and we hope you will come back next week to learn about the IMPACTS of climate change on society around us!
- Edible Landscape Initiative Team
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