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You'd be correct if this system was reducing CO2 to elemental carbon, but in fact it stores CO2 in the earth, not carbon (or hydrocarbon). So it's equivalent to
by scatters 6y ago
You'd be correct if this system was reducing CO2 to elemental carbon, but in fact it stores CO2 in the earth, not carbon (or hydrocarbon). So it's equivalent to burning fossil carbon, extracting the CO2 from the exhaust stream, and storing that waste underground. The enthalpy of combustion of the fossil fuel that went into the atmospheric CO2 doesn't need to be recovered for this process, it only needs enough energy to concentrate atmospheric CO2 and pump it below ground into geological storage.
- andi999 6y agoI am a bit suspect about storing co2 underground. I mean what is the common leakage rate? These storages will become the green house source of the future, or not?
- scatters 6y agoThey claim that it will react with basalt (specifically, the calcium in the basalt formations they are pumping it into) to form calcite minerals. Honestly, even if it's only sequestered for a hundred years (a geological eyeblink) that will give us some breathing space at least.
- jacobr1 6y agoWhat if we stored it as a liquid rather than a gas. Hmmm ... I've heard some things about C8H18 ...