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Low Emission Electricity Plants

Posted by Hemos on from the NIMBY dept.

BishopBerkeley writes "Nature is reporting (I have a univ. IP, so hopefully the link works for everyone) that plans are underway to build a power plant in Scotland that dramatically reduces carbon emission in fossil fuel burning power plants. The process will use steam to crack methane into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen is then burned, and the carbon dioxide is pumped into deposits under the North Sea. If it works, will resistance to the Kyoto Treaty finally go away?"

4 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. Just a new method to dump carbon dioxide by spectrum- · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the carbon dioxide is pumped into deposits under the North Sea

    So they pump the CO2 into a hole in the ground instead of in the air to sidestep pollution laws. How does that really help overall? What happens to this gas long term?

    Whats the point of this devlopment apart from temporarily reducing air emmissions in the direct surrounding?

  2. Other problems with Kyoto by new-black-hand · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Other problems with Kyoto are governments mis-calculating their emissions and sending their countries into the red, with a devestating effect on their economies. Take for example New Zealand, whos govermnet originally predicted a $500 Million windfall from Kyoto due to reduced emissions, but last week the news broke that their calculations were wrong and instead their Kyoto bill wil come to $1 Billion. It is big news over in New Zealand, with the federal budget now in negative territory before it and the government are re-evaluating their Kyoto commitment. They are now looking at increasing corporate taxes to pay the Kyoto bill, leaving many unhappy. Many European nations are now in the same boat.

    Bigger news on this front would be the Nuclear Fusion reactor Being built in France, and China announcing the next day that they will also be building a Fusion reactor. Clean energy? Not for at least another decade..

  3. No by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If it works, will resistance to the Kyoto Treaty finally go away?

    Unless this means Kyoto will no longer be a scheme to transfer wealth from the corporations of the most productive nations to the governments of least productive ones, I doubt it. A tax for not living in the stone ages sounds like a bad thing to a lot of people.

  4. CO2 in the ocean makes the oceans acidic by bloosqr · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Is pumping CO2 into the ocean really such a good idea? I There was a recent report that the oceans were becoming more acidic. Primarily due to the uptake of CO2 into the ocean. I would imagine pumping large amounts of CO2 on purpose over and above the natural uptake into the ocean would make this even worse. i.e. H2O + CO2 makes H2CO3 ala high school chemistry. H2CO3 is carbonic acid.


    -bloo