Tiny 'Cages' Could Trap Carbon Dioxide And Help Stop Climate Change

[terip64]

There is hope! I knew it! I am going to do my pilates and breath a little easier!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060317113547.htm

snip

Source: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Posted: March 20, 2006
Tiny 'Cages' Could Trap Carbon Dioxide And Help Stop Climate Change

A natural physical process has been identified that could play a key role in secure sub-seabed storage of carbon dioxide produced by fossil-fuelled power stations.

The researchers are investigating how hydrates, ice-like crystalline compounds, could help with CO2 disposal. Within the hydrate structure water molecules form cage-like cavities which trap molecules of 2. (Image courtesy of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)

With EPSRC funding, a team at the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research, at Heriot-Watt University is investigating how, in some conditions, seawater and carbon dioxide could combine into ice-like compounds in which the water molecules form cavities that act as cages, trapping the carbon dioxide molecules.

snip
more...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060317113547.htm

[formercia]

1. If you don't unsequester Carbon by burning it

you won't have to sequester it in the first place. You gain energy when you burn it then use energy to re-sequester it. Is this some kind of Keystone Cops science?

This is just some Administration bullshit science to justify status quo.

[Squatch]

2. Not all energy production results in the release of CO2

[formercia]

4. Too bad we couldn't be 100% hydroelectric

but the whole country would look like another TVA project. The only solution is to use less fossil fuels, plant more trees and vegetation and hope to reach an equilibrium some day.

[Squatch]

6. So, our two options are fossil fuels and hydroeletric power?

Thanks for the info, Teddy Roosevelt.

[formercia]

9. Hopefully Nuclear Fusion will become an option

Fissile fuel nuclear plants generate too much dangerous waste.

Solar is another. There are several technologies that can replace fossil fuels.

Too bad you have to be so sarcastic about it. Maybe you have a solution you would like to share with us.

[Squatch]

12. Nah...I like your idea:

"hope to reach an equilibrium some day."

Say, Squatch...what are you doing to reduce greenhouse gases?

Well, pard, let me tell you. I'm hoping...hoping with all my might...to reach an equilibrium some day.

--------
Sorry for the sarcasm.

[formercia]

13. We all have to do our share

Unfortunately, there are selfish people who will consume with abandon, regardless of the consequences to themselves and others.

[MadHound]

14. You folks, along with the rest of the country, and the government

Are overlooking the one way that we can reduce carbons, and not have the whole country looking like a TVA project.

Wind power. In 1991 the US Dept. of Energy did an inventory of all of our harvestable wind resources. What they found was amazing, that there was enough harvestable wind resources in three states, North Dakota, Kansas and Texas, to power the entire US electrical grid, including factoring in growth needs, until the year 2030.

With our intertwined electrical grids, we could produce power in one area and ship it to another. Nor would we, or should we, limit wind turbines to these three states. Spread them over the country, we have plenty of production capacity throughout the US, especially in the Great Plains. In fact energy experts have dubbed the US as being the "Saudi Arabia" of wind energy.

Start building diesel hybrids that are equipped with an extra battery. Plug them into the wind powered electrical grid, and fuel them with biodiesel.

We have the means, the technology and the infrastructure already in place to make this a reality. All we need now is the will and the turbines. Oh, and the political mindset to actually consider this solution.

[Squatch]

15. look at Iceland:

From their tourist board website:

"The traditional First Day of Summer holiday, April 24, will have special meaning this year as Iceland launches an economy based on hydrogen power. The world's first commercial hydrogen filling station opens in Reykjavik on April 24. A complete conversion to hydrogen energy is planned in the coming years, one day making Iceland the only zero emissions country in the world, and at the very top of environmental consciousness on a global scale. The yearly First Day of Summer celebration includes parades, sporting events and organized entertainment held in various locales around Iceland. After a long winter, the arrival of summer in April is a welcome excuse for Icelanders to take to the streets and cut loose. "

[MadHound]

16. That's nice and all, and it is nice to see them making such progess

But Iceland is a small, small country, with its population concentrated in just a few areas. What works for them would be much more difficult to work for us, due to our size and the fact that we're spread all over.

Wind power is an ideal solution for us, we have the infrastructure, sans turbines, in place already, and we have a plentiful source of wind to harvest nationwide. Sadly though, neither government nor corporate leaders seem interested in this, so I suppose it is going to be left to the individual. I'm hoping myself to have a three kilowatt turbine up in the next year or two.

The two drawbacks to hydrogen is that it takes more energy to crack it out of water than it will produce, thus it is at best an energy transfer, and in most cases due to inefficiencies, a net energy loss. Second, the easiest way to extract hydrogen is to crack water, and we're already low on water, we don't need to lose anymore, nor dabble in our enviroment by extracting all that water for hydrogen.

All we need to do is stick up a bunch of turbines and plug them into the grid. Then let the wind take care of the rest.

[terip64]

3. You guys totally lost me, I'm just looking for hope!

I feel like the grim reaper with all the news I spread somedays. It is just nice to know that some really smart people are trying to fix this mess we are in!

[formercia]

5. People need to hear the grim news

and hopefully modify their behavior. We are the problem and only we can decide to use less, consume less and break out of the death spiral we are in.

[terip64]

7. I totally agree which is why I do it.

[DrGonzoLives]

11. It's because we're skeptical

Given the bad science that this administration has been all too happy to leak to the press to justify their nonsense, seeing something like this just trips the alarm.

The only truly effective solution is reforestation followed by smart forest management, amongst other things.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. Yes, these cages are called "plant cells".

[formercia]

10. and when they die

I turn them into mulch for my garden that produces carbohydrates. Tummy sequestering.

Remember the carbon cycle diagram from biology 101?