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Interesting article in The Engineer about a [url= http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/self-sealing-co2-could-close-ccs-cracks/1007418.article ]"new process [that] could automatically seal cracks in underground carbon dioxide stores."[/url]
The process involves adding a substance to the CO2 before it is injected into the ground that precipitates into a sealant at any points where leaks cause a change of density in the gas.
Sounds very much like Stan's, but bigger. So why won't it clog the fissures in the rock at the point of injection?
I'm also interested in the panel's views on the whole CCS thing.
i'm guessing my way through this...
the sealant stuff won't clog up the injection point due to high flow rates.
once it's settled in cracks and whatnot it'll set a bit firmer - maybe they'll use ketchup?
as for CCS - maybe it's a good idea, but it'll require an enormous global effort to keep up with the XXX,000,000,000 tonnes of CO2 human activity adds to the atmosphere every year.
just think of all the faff involved in releasing it, and remember that bit's fun and profitable, i don't think we've got the resources/enthusiasm/inclination to do that much tidying up.
personally, i think we've got bigger concerns than climate change* rather than trying to reverse it.
(*reducing our population in a nice way, preserving habitats, cleaning up the oceans, that sort of thing)
i am an idiot.
The idea of a combined CO2 / Stans Latex 'dose' sounds like a fantastic idea ... as long as the sealant doesn't set so hard that your tyres are permanently welded to the rim, as that wouldn't be so good 😳
i think we've got bigger concerns than climate change
I know what you mean, but when faced with multiple catastrophe's it's kinda hard to prioritise when deep down we know that the answer is 'all of them'.
CCS sounds to me like a very poor idea for a solution. Something that would make more sense would be to reduce the reliance on those centralised fossil-based electricity production facilities through distributed micro production with smaller regional top up production. I'm sure that a solution that uses high-tech expensive engineering to prop up the continued squandering of CO2-emitting fossil fuels is in no way connected to the political power of the energy companies who'd rather not see their little multi-national cartel dismantled 🙂