Slashdot Mirror
Storing Liquid CO2 in the Oceans?
Roland Piquepaille writes "One of the ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to capture carbon dioxide at its source, when it is emitted from power plants for example, and to store it in other places, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or even the ocean after liquefaction. But, according to Youxue Zhang, a professor at the University of Michigan, there are pitfalls in this last plan. If the carbon dioxide is not injected deep enough, it can come back to the surface and return to the atmosphere, which is obviously not the desired goal. But, even worse, the liquid-to-gas conversion could happen too suddenly, which could cause a potentially dangerous eruption. So Zhang has developed a model which shows that liquid CO2 would have to be injected to a depth of between 800 and 3,000 meters to keep it from escaping from the ocean."
And this site kindly points out the following:
Not to mention the environmental effect of millions of farting & belching sea creatures. I think we should keep a close eye on this man :)
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
Today was a great day in the history of coca-cola production.
Wouldn't it be easier, safer, and more intelligent to just protect and encourage coral growth? Coral pretty much does everything we need, if we could just give it an environment to 'do its thing' none of this would be a problem. The entire strategem is rife with deadly pitfalls and screams of huge opportunity to burn energy that produces more CO and CO2. Think about it.
kulakovich
Considering that the vast majority of oxygen production takes place near the surface of the ocean, I would be rather worried about ocean life thriving unexpectedly on what could only be called a fresh breath of CO2.
Or you could just dump some iron into the ocean to supercharge plankton growth. Probably cheaper, easier and a tad more of a natural way to do it.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
You store the liquified CO2 into giant plastic bubbles that are held down by weights at the bottom of the ocean. That should work. Unless the Navy uses the bubbles for submarine target practice.
Sigh... Another beautiful theory ruined by an ugly fact.
In addition to allowing CO2 to recombine with the system in a more natural way (next to the O2 in the water that makes up the C), this offers the side benefit of transforming ocean life dumb enough to swim through the layer to freezer-ready seafood.
However, it is important to note that fluidic injection of a medium density liquid between two light density liquids is neither the safest nor most effective method of obtaining a clearly-delineated stack. Anyone who has mixed a layered drink will tell you that you go from highest density to lowest density, pouring each layer of liquor against a spoon so as to prevent gravity from making an environmental disaster of your nightcap. Pumping liquid CO2 into the sea thus begs the question of what sort of sludge should go under it to replace the water (and where to find a spoon that large.)
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
It could be an uber doom chemical if, you know, you have gills that extract oxygen from the water so you can breathe. Replace said oxygen with liquid carbon dioxide and voila, instant undersea holocaust.
Worst. Science. Idea. Ever.
There are several lakes in equatorial Africa which by virtue of their depth and location sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide gas in solution and create a potentially dangerous situation. The incident to which you refer occurred at Lake Nyos in the Northwest Province of Cameroon on the 21st of August 1986. The lake emitted a large cloud of CO2 gas when the waters of the lake were disturbed by an underwater landslide and the gas bubbled up from the depths of the lake. The resulting cloud of gas flowed down the hillside and through the surrounding areas killing 1,800 people and 3,500 livestock. Degassing pipes have since been installed at Nyos and other similar lakes to allow the stored gas to be gradually released from solution and thereby prevent another uncontrolled release.
The idea of dissolving CO2 in oceans is incredibly reckless. Look at the consequences of degassing of a small lake and you can dismiss this silliness out of hand. The earth's natural mechanism for CO2 removal is limestone formation. Perhaps would be wiser to imitate that.
an ill wind that blows no good
> Stick a metal fork/spoon into a cup of coke for a week and see what happens. ;)
After hearing rumours of the extreme acidity of coca-cola I did just that, with various objects. The copper ones came out cleaner looking, the others weren't visibly affected, including a tooth
(everyone, if you hear urban legend bullshit like this and it's safe to try it to see for yourself, go do so. There's a lot of misinformation floating around)