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Pat

• Machines with filters made from sorbent materials can bind carbon dioxide, extracting it from the air.
• With mass production,machines might capture CO₂ at $30 a ton, less than the $100 or more charged for commercial CO₂ supply.
• With improved sorbents, 10 million machines across the planet could reduce CO₂ concentration by five parts per million a year, more than the rate of global increase right now. 

Sounds great…but is it. The following comment to this article was posted in response (by Ed Schneider):

“The author suggests using a process that will pump 3.5 tons of water vapor into the atmosphere for every 1 ton of carbon dioxide that is removed. Water vapor has a geat capacity that is 2-3 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. How is this process not going to greatly increase global warming?”

Although people speak of “greenhouse” gases, and like glass in a greenhouse they keep the earth warmer than would otherwise be the case, the way they heat the atmosphere is not like that of glass in a greenhouse. While the sun is shining on the earth it heats up as a result of incoming short-wave radiation; as the earth heats up it gives off some of that heat in the form of outgoing long-wave radiation. Just as photographic filters can block light of specific wave-lengths so the “greenhouse“ gases absorb heat in specific wave-lengths and stop it from leaving the earth. The figure below (taken from http://www.climatedata.info/Emissions/introduction.html) shows the outgoing heat radiation at ground level, the radiation which “escapes” to space and the effect of greenhouse gases.

As can be seen water vapor is the most effective greenhouse gas and operates over most of the relevant wave-length. Although this simplified graph suggests that its effect is fairly uniform that is not actually the case; there are some intermediate wave-lengths with higher or lower effects. Carbon dioxide is the next most powerful greenhouse gas. Whereas water vapor is effective over a wide range, carbon dioxide is only effective over a limited part of the wave-length. As concentrations of carbon dioxide increase it will absorb a higher proportion of the outgoing heat within its wave band but its effect will not spread to other wave lengths. Similar considerations apply to Methane and Nitrous Oxide. In fact, they both operate over the same relatively narrow wave band.

Hmmm – is Ed correct?

You may also be aware that South Africa has recently, among much heated debate, secured a $3 billion loan from the World Bank to establish a new coal fired power plant (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/08/AR2010040805407.html). This begs the question, why use precious water in the Orange-Senqu river basin to generate power from coal, when hydropower in the countries to the north could be encouraged? Perhaps even as SADC to claim carbon credits from the CDM…and of course obvious regional growth opportunities and regional integration.

Apart from the delivery time for coal fired power and hydropower and South African commitments to clean energy, which may have swung things in favour of this coal fired power plant, South Africa has indicated it will not want to import more than 15% of its power needs…Perhaps from fear of being reliant on power from potential unstable nations to the north, and power lines that traverse miles of untamed Africa.

So regional and national security (sovereignty) issues may triumph over commitments to low carbon futures.

In 2009, a patent describing compositions, methods and apparatus for biological and physical geoengineering for carbon sequestration was disclosed.

Disclosed are inorganic particles, prill, pucks, or floats for dispersal on a body of water, the compositions having several properties: 1) positive buoyancy, 2) a sustained-release matrix for delivery of iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, molybdenum, manganese, cobalt, boron, selenium, vanadium, chromium, nickel, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, preferably as a combination thereof, at biologically efficacious levels, and synergically, 3) a light-reflective surface for increasing planetary albedo when dispersed over large surfaces.

These compositions are found to A) increase yields for pelagic aquaculture, B) increase carbon sequestration, and C) provide immediate relief from global warming by directly increasing surface albedo and indirectly by increasing cloud nucleation activity.

A preferred composition comprises a mixture of inorganic salts and binders (such as a glass or ceramic) effective for increasing the growth of primary aquatic producers such as coccolithophorids, diatoms, silicoflagellates, dinoflagellates, and microalgae (and higher trophic levels) in a sustained-release composition having a T1/2 of 0.5-3 years. To validate resultant carbon fixation and sequestration, a vertical spar buoy is provided. The buoy is designed to resist wave motion while supporting a stable long-term platform and submerged space frame with laser particle counters suspended below the 100 year horizon. Validation of exsolation energy credits, issuance of an associated financial instrument, and trading markets for those instruments are also described.

Full Patent text at: http://www.patentstorm.us/applications/20090227161/fulltext.html

1. Protecting the public from immediate risk (flooding and heatwaves)
2. Preparing for the future (using climate projections)
3. Limiting the severity of future climate change through a new international climate agreement (resulting from the Copenhagen meeting last December)
4. Building a low carbon UK – Britain is the first country in the world to set legally binding ‘carbon budgets’, aiming to cut UK emissions by 34% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050.
5. Supporting individuals, communities and businesses to play their part – e.g. building on the ‘Act on CO2′ information campaign and a furthering of the the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP)

The 5 point plan assessed the current situation and was designed to build on the current national and international experience in the agricultural, power and transport sectors, whilst also providing the outline blueprint for transformations in both the home and the workplace. The original White Paper set out the plan to deliver emission cuts of 18% on 2008 levels by 2020, and over a one third reduction on 1990 levels. The key steps of the action plan are as follows:

• Obtaining 40% of electricity from low carbon sources, with a production of 30% from renewable sources
• Facilitating the building of new nuclear power stations
• Providing over £3 billion to help households become more energy efficient; smart meters in every home by 2020
• Introducing incentive schemes such as ‘pay as you save’ and ‘clean energy cash-back’
• Providing support for the most vulnerable, i.e. mandated social price support, piloting community-based support and an increase in grants for energy saving measures (Warm Front)
• Providing £120 million investment in offshore wind power and £60 million on marine energy sources
• Transforming transport by cutting average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars across the EU by 40%
• Supporting the largest demonstration project in the world for new electric cars, and sourcing 10% of UK transport energy from sustainable renewable sources by 2020.
• Providing the first ever framework to tackle and reduce agricultural emissions

Deborah Doane, director of the World Development Movement said: “The commitment to generate 30 per cent of electricity from renewable sources and to reduce emissions in the UK power sector is welcome. But the politics is still lagging behind the science as this target doesn’t come close enough to what is needed to prevent dangerous climate change. “Worryingly the previous government has said it can use carbon offsetting to meet targets if we fail to cut emissions. This is a dangerous get-out-of-jail-free card which could be disastrous for the climate and for the world’s poorest people. The government has to be completely committed to reducing our emissions here in the UK, not pass the buck onto developing countries.

What do you think? Is Deborah correct? Will the new coalition government build follow this plan, or will they adjust it? If so, what adjustments/corrections/omissions could be made?

Link to 5 point low carbon transition plan: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/publications/lc_trans_plan/lc_trans_plan.aspx

Link to Climate Change Act of 2008: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080027_en_1

This website acts as a complement (a discussion forum) to my personal webpage www.lowcarbonoptions.net, which has a focus on innovations in relation to low carbon options.

I expect to have both sites to up and running  by the end of April 2010. Please check back then.

In the meantime, I will leave you with this video

See you back here soon.

Pat Reynolds