Movement of Carbon - Carbon Sequestration Flashcards
Land Use Changes - Carbon Sequestration.
What does carbon sequestration involve?
Capuring co2 from atmosphere and putting it into long term storage?
Name the 2 primary types of carbon sequestration?
Geological.
Terrestrial/biological.
What is geological sequestration?
Co2 captured at a source eg power plant and injected into liquid form into stores underground.
This could be depleted oil and gas reservoirs/ deep ocean.
Advantage of ocean sequestration?
The carbon is ‘sunk’ within weeks/months of being captured.
Its in circulation system for 1000’s of years.
By time carbon reaches seabed its entered the Earth’s geological system.
What is terrestrial/biological sequestration?
Uses plans to capture co2 from atmosphere and stores it as carbon in stems and roots and soil.
Maximise the amount of carbon stored in plants for long term.
4 advantages of carbon sequestration?
Reduces climate change by removed co2 from atmosphere.
No reports of co2 leaking out of where it was injected.
Gas easily liquefied and transported - convenient.
Reduce emissions up to 80-85%
3 disadvantages of carbon sequestration?
If injected gas leaks out it could be fatal as co2 is denser than air and would remain near land surface.
High amounts of co2 injected into oceans will turn it acidic, endangering aquatic wildlife.
Needs to work large scale.
Trapping co2 needs electricity
Disadvantage of TERRESTRIAL SEQUESTRATION?
Carbon captured in forested area may lose carbon back to atmosphere through a catastrophic event - fire.
Example
North America has largest number of CCs projects.
16/22 CCS projects world wide
5 in the UK
22 CCS will be able to capture 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually one all in operation
Successes ??
Been in operation for 45 years without any major failures
220 million tonnes of man made carbon has been pumped deep underground to date
