5 ms·

Humans put out 40 billion tons of CO2 every year. Offsetting all of this would require 1 trillion gallons of water which sounds like a lot but is only 1 cubic m

by moftz 10y ago

Humans put out 40 billion tons of CO2 every year. Offsetting all of this would require 1 trillion gallons of water which sounds like a lot but is only 1 cubic mile of water. It doesn't say how fresh the water needs to be but if salt water is possible to use, then these injection systems could be setup all over the world in places where access to ocean water and basalt bedrock is plentiful. That energy company says they plan to setup facilities to inject 10000 tons of CO2 every year. It would still take 4 million more of these facilities to offset all carbon emissions.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
At this point, the CCS tech is all there; cost is the main problem. Currently we're at or above $100/tonne of CO2 captured, transported and stored, with capture being the main cost driver. To make this economically feasible, it requires a carbon tax equivalent to a price increase on gasoline of around $1/gallon (IIRC). Which would be unpopular, to say the least.
- schoen 10y ago
  Gas prices vary a lot more than that between countries today (largely due to differences in existing taxes). http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/Europe/ http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/Europe/ That's stated in dollars per liter (an unusual unit). In dollars per gallon, Germany would be $5.79/gallon today and the U.K. would be $6.13/gallon.
  - lucaspiller 10y ago
    Here in Italy it varies a lot even within the country. Yesterday I drove ~600km from the south to Rome and prices varied between €1.45 and €1.75 per litre.
    - fpoling 10y ago
      In Norway prices can vary by 10-15% on the same gas station withing hours. In many places the cheapest gasoline is on Sunday evening with significantly higher price coming on Monday.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  The oil and gas industry benefits from 5.3 trillion dollars[0] in subsidies currently. End those and raise taxes on the industry and the taxes won't need to be that high on the consumer end. [0]http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=42940.0 http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=42940.0
  - Karunamon 10y ago
    Wouldn't they necessarily pass those costs on to the consumer?
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      Depends these firms are highly profitable, if one decided to eat some or all of those costs their product would cost less than its competitors and they would sell at much higher volume.
Tuna-Fish 10y ago
The water can be saltwater, and if you set up the system as a loop, you can reuse the same water as it comes back up without the CO2. The limiting factor is the drilling -- you need lots of deep holes in the ground, and making those is costly. It's not a surprise that this was pioneered by a geothermal company, as drilling is their main expertise. The big remaining unknown is how long can they reuse the same hole before all basalt in there is covered in calcium carbonate. Since drilling is the main cost, and this determines how often you have to drill, it can either make this project feasible or totally unusable.

by moftz 10y ago

semi-extrinsic 10y ago

At this point, the CCS tech is all there; cost is the main problem. Currently we're at or above $100/tonne of CO2 captured, transported and stored, with capture being the main cost driver. To make this economically feasible, it requires a carbon tax equivalent to a price increase on gasoline of around $1/gallon (IIRC). Which would be unpopular, to say the least.

schoen 10y ago
Gas prices vary a lot more than that between countries today (largely due to differences in existing taxes). http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/Europe/ http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/Europe/ That's stated in dollars per liter (an unusual unit). In dollars per gallon, Germany would be $5.79/gallon today and the U.K. would be $6.13/gallon.
- lucaspiller 10y ago
  Here in Italy it varies a lot even within the country. Yesterday I drove ~600km from the south to Rome and prices varied between €1.45 and €1.75 per litre.
  - fpoling 10y ago
    In Norway prices can vary by 10-15% on the same gas station withing hours. In many places the cheapest gasoline is on Sunday evening with significantly higher price coming on Monday.
cmdrfred 10y ago
The oil and gas industry benefits from 5.3 trillion dollars[0] in subsidies currently. End those and raise taxes on the industry and the taxes won't need to be that high on the consumer end. [0]http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=42940.0 http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=42940.0
- Karunamon 10y ago
  Wouldn't they necessarily pass those costs on to the consumer?
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Depends these firms are highly profitable, if one decided to eat some or all of those costs their product would cost less than its competitors and they would sell at much higher volume.

Tuna-Fish 10y ago

The water can be saltwater, and if you set up the system as a loop, you can reuse the same water as it comes back up without the CO2. The limiting factor is the drilling -- you need lots of deep holes in the ground, and making those is costly. It's not a surprise that this was pioneered by a geothermal company, as drilling is their main expertise. The big remaining unknown is how long can they reuse the same hole before all basalt in there is covered in calcium carbonate. Since drilling is the main cost, and this determines how often you have to drill, it can either make this project feasible or totally unusable.