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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9, SEPTEMBER 1992

REPORTS...
CO₂ DISPOSAL, ABATEMENT

Item #d92sep100

Algal Refossilization of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (EPRI EAR-7401), 88 pp., July 1991, $200 for nonmembers of EPRI. Elec. Power Res. Inst., Res. Rpt. Ctr., POB 50490, Palo Alto CA 94303 (415-965-4081).

Describes one of a series of studies by EPRI to identify biological processes for trapping atmospheric CO₂ and converting the carbon into a geological storage medium. This phase outlines a refossilization farm design and identifies various epiphytes and basiphytes that could sequester carbon in the oceans as calcium carbonate skeletal material. Discusses the oceanographic, climatological, biological, logistical and regulatory criteria to be met and phenomena to be understood. Preliminary calculations estimate a cost of $.20/ton, which compares favorably with a proposed carbon tax of $100/ton.

Item #d92sep101

Confining and Abating CO₂ from Fossil Fuel Burning in the European Communities--A Feasible Option? (91-250), Netherlands Org. for Appl. Sci. Res. (TNO), 1991, approx. $55. IMET-TNO, POB 342, 7300 AH Apeldoorn, Neth. (tel: +31-55-493960; fax: +31-55-493287).

The study was carried out by TNO and the Netherlands Institute for Marine Research at the request of the European Community Commission. About 60% of EC CO₂ emissions could be avoided by simultaneously implementing measures to confine (sequester) CO₂ and abate and prevent emissions. The net cost would be 65 billion EC units ($80 billion) when the benefits of avoided fossil energy production are taken into account. Options for sequestering CO₂ examined include storage in aquifers, in depleted gas fields and in the ocean near Gibraltar. Other options examined include energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, afforestation in Europe and the tropics, and energy farming. (See Intl. Environ. Rptr., p. 104, Feb. 26, 1992.)

Item #d92sep102

R and D Status of Carbon Dioxide Separation, Disposal, and Utilization Technologies: Final Report, E.S. Lipinsky (Can. Ctr. Mineral & Energy Technol., Ottawa), 140 pp., 1991. NTIS: MIC-92-01212; $43.

Commissioned by a consortium of Canadian organizations, this study assessed current techniques and identified opportunities to make progress. Based on a literature review and interviews.

Item #d92sep103

Sequestering of CO₂ in a Deep Ocean: Fall Velocity and Dissolution Rate of Solid CO₂ in the Ocean (CRIEPI-EU-91003), N. Nakashiki, T. Ohsumi, K. Shitashima, 20 pp., Aug. 1991. Available from Central Res. Inst. of the Elec. Power Industry (CRIEPI), Tokyo, Japan.

The free fall of solid CO₂ in the ocean was observed using cameras and a bathythermograph. The measured dissolution rate and free fall velocity were used to develop a simulation model, which suggests that a three-meter solid cube of CO₂ would retain half of its initial mass at the 3,000 m depth, where dissolved liquid CO₂ is heavier than the ambient seawater.