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Carbon Dioxide Sink

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Carbon dioxide sink



 
 
A carbon sink is a natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.

The main natural sinks are:

The main manmade sinks are:

The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is known as CO2 sequestration
CO2 sequestration

Carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide through biological, chemical or physical processes, for the mitigation of global warming....
 or carbon sequestration. Public awareness of the significance of CO2 sinks has grown since passage of the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3–14 June 1992....
, which promotes their use as a form of carbon offset
Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent ....
.

use growing vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
, the Kyoto Protocol allows countries with large areas of forest (or other vegetation) to deduct a certain amount from their emissions, thus making it easier for them to achieve the desired net emission levels.

Some countries seek to trade emission rights in carbon emission markets, purchasing the unused carbon emission allowances of other countries.






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A carbon sink is a natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.

The main natural sinks are:
  • Absorption of carbon dioxide
    Biological pump

    In oceanic biogeochemistry, the biological pump is the sum of a suite of biologically-mediated processes that transport carbon from the surface euphotic zone to the ocean's interior....
     by the oceans
  • Photosynthesis
    Photosynthesis

    File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
     by plants and algae


The main manmade sinks are:
  • Landfill
    Landfill

    File:Wysypisko.jpgFile:Landfill face.JPGFile:Landfill.jpg A landfill, also known as a dump , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of list of solid waste treatment technologies....
    s
  • Carbon capture and storage
    Carbon capture and storage

    Carbon capture and storage is an approach to Mitigation of global warming the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming, based on capturing carbon dioxide from large Point source pollution such as fossil fuel power plants....
     proposals


The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is known as CO2 sequestration
CO2 sequestration

Carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide through biological, chemical or physical processes, for the mitigation of global warming....
 or carbon sequestration. Public awareness of the significance of CO2 sinks has grown since passage of the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3–14 June 1992....
, which promotes their use as a form of carbon offset
Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent ....
.

Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3–14 June 1992....

Because growing vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
, the Kyoto Protocol allows countries with large areas of forest (or other vegetation) to deduct a certain amount from their emissions, thus making it easier for them to achieve the desired net emission levels.

Some countries seek to trade emission rights in carbon emission markets, purchasing the unused carbon emission allowances of other countries. If overall limits on greenhouse gas emission are put into place, cap and trade market mechanisms are purported to find cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. There is as yet no carbon audit regime
Carbon audit regime

A carbon audit regime is a means of accounting for quantifiable Mitigation of global warming efforts. It establishes that the claimed reductions in emissions or enhancements of carbon dioxide sinks, has actually occurred and is stable....
 for all such markets globally, and none is specified in the Kyoto Protocol. National carbon emissions are self-declared.

In the Clean Development Mechanism
Clean Development Mechanism

The Clean Development Mechanism is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries....
, only afforestation
Afforestation

Afforestation is the process of establishing a forest on land that is not a forest, or has not been a forest for a long time by planting trees or their seeds....
 and reforestation
Reforestation

Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted, with native tree stock. The term reforestation can also refer to afforestation, the process of restoring and recreating areas of woodlands or forest that once existed but were deforestation or otherwise removed or destroyed at some point in the pas...
 are eligible to produce carbon audit regime
Carbon audit regime

A carbon audit regime is a means of accounting for quantifiable Mitigation of global warming efforts. It establishes that the claimed reductions in emissions or enhancements of carbon dioxide sinks, has actually occurred and is stable....
s (CERs) in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008–2012). Forest conservation activities or activities avoiding deforestation
Deforestation

Deforestation is the logging or burning of trees in forested areas. There are several reasons for doing so: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and are used by humans while cleared land is used as pasture, plantations of commodities and human settlement....
, which would result in emission reduction through the conservation of existing carbon stocks, are not eligible at this time. Also, agricultural carbon sequestration is not possible yet.

Storage in terrestrial and marine environments


Soils

Soils represent a short to long-term carbon storage medium, and contains more carbon than all terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Plant litter
Plant litter

Plant litter is dead plant material, such as leaf, bark, and twigs, that has fallen to the ground. Litter provides Habitat for small animals, fungus, and plants, and the material may be used to construct nests....
 and other biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 accumulates as organic matter
Soil organic matter

Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds....
 in soils, and is degraded by chemical weathering and biological degradation
Biodegradation

Biodegradation is the process by which organic compound substances are decomposition by the enzymes produced by living organisms. The term is often used in relation to ecology, waste management and natural environmental environmental remediation ....
. More recalcitrant organic
Organic

Organic may refer to:* Organism, a living entity.* Organ , of or relating to a bodily organ.Life:*LifeMaterials and substances:...
 carbon polymers
Biopolymer

Biopolymers are a class of polymers produced by living organisms.Starch, proteins and peptides,and DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers, in which the monomeric units, respectively, are sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides....
 such as cellulose
Cellulose

File:Cellulose Sessel.svgCellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand ? linked D-glucose units....
, hemi-cellulose, lignin
Lignin

Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae....
, aliphatic compounds, waxes and terpenoids are collectively retained as humus
Humus

Humus is degraded organic material in soil, which causes some soil layers to be dark brown or black.In soil science, humus refers to any organic matter that has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no further and might, if conditions do not change, remain essentially as it is for centuries, if not millennia....
. Organic matter tends to accumulate in litter and soils of colder regions such as the boreal forests of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and the Taiga
Taiga

Taiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern Kazakhstan and Japan , the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome....
 of Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. Leaf litter and humus
Humus

Humus is degraded organic material in soil, which causes some soil layers to be dark brown or black.In soil science, humus refers to any organic matter that has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no further and might, if conditions do not change, remain essentially as it is for centuries, if not millennia....
 are rapidly oxidized and poorly retained in sub-tropical and tropical climate
Climate

Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, atmospheric pressure, winds, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other Meteorology elements in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity of these same elements....
 conditions due to high temperatures and extensive leaching by rainfall. Areas where shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation

For methods, see slash and burnShifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned....
 or slash and burn
Slash and burn

Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields for agriculture or pasture for livestock, or for a variety of other purposes....
 agriculture are practiced are generally only fertile for 2–3 years before they are abandoned. These tropical jungles are similar to coral reefs in that they are highly efficient at conserving and circulating necessary nutrients, which explains their lushness in a nutrient desert. Much organic carbon
Soil carbon

Soil carbon is the generic name for carbon held within the soil, primarily in association with its Organic matter content. This discussion begins with a brief introduction to soil carbon, its function within the soil, influences on soil carbon, and finally the impacts that might be expected from increasing soil carbon....
 retained in many agricultural areas worldwide has been severely depleted due to intensive farming practices.

Grasslands contribute to soil organic matter
Soil organic matter

Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds....
, stored mainly in their extensive fibrous root mats. Due in part to the climactic conditions of these regions (e.g. cooler temperatures and semi-arid to arid conditions), these soils can accumulate significant quantities of organic matter. This can vary based on rainfall, the length of the winter season, and the frequency of naturally occurring lightning-induced grass-fires
Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled, non-structure fire that occurs in the wilderness, wildland, or The Bush. Synonyms such as wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, Peat#Fires, bushfire , and hill fire are commonly used....
. While these fires release carbon dioxide, they improve the quality of the grasslands overall, in turn increasing the amount of carbon retained in the retained humic material. They also deposit carbon directly to the soil in the form of char
Biochar

Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. The resulting charcoal-like material can be used as a soil improver to create terra preta, and is a form of carbon capture and storage....
 that does not significantly degrade back to carbon dioxide.

Forest fires release absorbed carbon back into the atmosphere, as does deforestation due to rapidly increased oxidation of soil organic matter.

Organic matter in peat
Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation biological tissue. Peat forms in wetlands or peatlands, variously called bogs, Moorland, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests....
 bogs undergoes slow anaerobic decomposition below the surface. This process is slow enough that in many cases the bog grows rapidly and fixes
Carbon fixation

Carbon fixation is a process found in autotrophs , usually driven by photosynthesis, whereby carbon dioxide is changed into organic materials. Carbon fixation can also be carried out by the process of calcification in marine, calcifying organisms such as Emiliania huxleyi....
 more carbon from the atmosphere than is released. Over time, the peat grows deeper. Peat bogs inter approximately one-quarter of the carbon stored in land plants and soils.

Under some conditions, forests and peat bogs may become sources of CO2, such as when a forest is flooded by the construction of a hydroelectric dam. Unless the forests and peat are harvested before flooding, the rotting vegetation is a source of CO2 and methane
Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula . It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees....
 comparable in magnitude to the amount of carbon released by a fossil-fuel powered plant of equivalent power.

Regenerative agriculture

Regenerative agriculture, if practiced on the planet’s 3.5 billion tillable acres, could sequester up to 40% of current CO2 emissions. Agricultural carbon sequestration has the potential to substantially mitigate global warming impacts. When using biologically based regenerative practices, this dramatic benefit can be accomplished with no decrease in yields or farmer profits. Organically managed soils can convert carbon dioxide from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset.

In 2006, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion were estimated at nearly 6.5 billion tons. If a 2,000 (lb/ac)/year sequestration rate was achieved on all of cropland in the United States, nearly 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide would be sequestered per year, mitigating close to one quarter of the country's total fossil fuel emissions. This is the emission-cutting equivalent of taking one car off the road for every two acres under 21st century regenerative agricultural management (based on a vehicle average of 15,000 miles per year at 23 mpg; U.S. EPA data).

Oceans

Oceans are natural CO2 sinks, and represent the largest active carbon sink on Earth. This role as a sink for CO2 is driven by two processes, the solubility pump
Solubility pump

In oceanic biogeochemistry, the solubility pump is a physico-chemical process that transports carbon from the ocean's surface to its interior....
 and the biological pump
Biological pump

In oceanic biogeochemistry, the biological pump is the sum of a suite of biologically-mediated processes that transport carbon from the surface euphotic zone to the ocean's interior....
. The former is primarily a function of differential CO2 solubility in seawater
Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%, or 35 parts per thousand . This means that every 1 kg of seawater has approximately 35 grams of sea salt ....
 and the thermohaline circulation
Thermohaline circulation

The term thermohaline circulation refers to the part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global Density gradient created by surface heat and freshwater Flux....
, while the latter is the sum of a series of biological processes that transport carbon (in organic
Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry which involves the science study of the structure, properties, composition, chemical reaction, and preparation of chemical compounds that contain carbon....
 and inorganic
Inorganic chemistry of carbon

There is an immense number of distinct compounds that contain carbon atoms. Some sources suggest that this number is close to ten million known. However, it is possible that the number is greater....
 forms) from the surface euphotic zone
Photic zone

The photic zone or euphotic zone is the depth of the water in a lake or ocean, that is exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur....
 to the ocean's interior. A small fraction of the organic carbon transported by the biological pump to the seafloor
Seabed

The seabed is the bottom of the ocean. At the bottom of the continental slope is the continental rise, which is caused by sediment cascading down the continental slope....
 is buried in anoxic
Anoxic sea water

Anoxic waters are areas of sea water or fresh water that are depleted of dissolved oxygen. This condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange....
 conditions under sediments and ultimately forms fossil fuel
Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source fuels, that is, carbon or hydrocarbons found in the earth?s Crust .Fossil fuel range from volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal....
s such as oil
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
 and natural gas
Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
.

At the present time, approximately one third of anthropogenic
Anthropogenic

Anthropogenic effects, processes or materials are those that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in natural environments without human influence....
 emissions are estimated to be entering the ocean. The solubility pump is the primary mechanism driving this, with the biological pump playing a negligible role. This stems from the limitation of the biological pump by ambient light and nutrients required by the phytoplankton
Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek language words phyton, or "plant", and p?a??t?? , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"....
 that ultimately drive it. Total inorganic carbon
Total inorganic carbon

The total inorganic carbon or dissolved inorganic carbon is the sum of inorganic carbon species in a solution. The inorganic carbon species include carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, bicarbonate anion, and carbonate anion....
 is not believed to limit primary production
Primary production

Primary production is the production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis, with chemosynthesis being much less important....
 in the oceans, so its increasing availability in the ocean does not directly affect production (the situation on land is different, since enhanced atmospheric levels of CO2 essentially "fertilize" land plant growth). However, ocean acidification
Ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by their uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere....
 by invading anthropogenic CO2 may affect the biological pump by negatively impacting calcifying
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
 organisms such as coccolithophore
Coccolithophore

Coccolithophores are single-celled algae, protists and phytoplankton belonging to the division haptophytes. They are distinguished by special calcium carbonate plates of uncertain function called coccoliths , which are important Micropaleontology....
s, foraminiferans and pteropods. Climate change
Climate change

Climate change is any long-term significant change in the expected patterns of average weather of a specific region over an appropriately significant period of time....
 may also affect the biological pump in the future by warming and stratifying
Stratification (water)

Water stratification occurs when water of high and low salinity , as well as cold and warm water , forms layers that act as barriers to water mixing....
 the surface ocean, thus reducing the supply of limiting nutrients to surface waters.

In January 2009, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is a not-for-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California affiliated with the Monterey Bay Aquarium....
 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the Earth's atmosphere....
 announced a joint study to determine whether the ocean off the California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 coast was serving as a carbon source or a carbon sink. Principal instrumentation for the study will be self-contained CO2 monitors placed on buoy
Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly , although some orthoepy have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation ....
s in the ocean. They will measure the partial pressure of CO2 in the ocean and the atmosphere just above the water surface.

Enhancing natural sequestration


Forests

Forests are carbon stores, and they are carbon dioxide sinks when they are increasing in density or area. In Canada's boreal
Boreal

Boreal may refer to*Northern, from Boreas, god of the North Wind in Greek mythology*Boreal climate, the climate found in a region of boreal forests, and designated Dfc, Dwc or Dsc in the K?ppen climate classification scheme....
 forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter. A 40-year study of African, Asian, and South American tropical forests by the University of Leeds, shows tropical forests absorb about 18% of all carbon dioxide added by fossil fuels, thus buffering any effects of global warming
Global warming

Global warming is the increase in the Instrumental temperature record of the Earth's near-surface air and the oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation....
. Tropical reforestation
Reforestation

Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted, with native tree stock. The term reforestation can also refer to afforestation, the process of restoring and recreating areas of woodlands or forest that once existed but were deforestation or otherwise removed or destroyed at some point in the pas...
 can mitigate global warming until all available land has been reforested with mature forests. However, the global cooling effect of carbon sequestration by forests is partially counterbalanced in that reforestation can decrease the reflection of sunlight (albedo
Albedo

The albedo of an object is the extent to which it diffusely reflects light from the Sun. It is therefore a more specific form of the term reflectivity....
). Mid-to-high latitude forests have a much lower albedo
Albedo

The albedo of an object is the extent to which it diffusely reflects light from the Sun. It is therefore a more specific form of the term reflectivity....
 during snow
Snow

Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. The process of this precipitation is called snowfall....
 seasons than flat ground, thus contributing to warming. Modeling that compares the effects of albedo differences between forests and grasslands suggests that expanding the land area of forests in temperate zones offers only a temporary cooling benefit.

In the United States in 2004 (the most recent year for which EPA statistics are available), forests sequestered 10.6% (637 teragrams) of the carbon dioxide released in the United States by the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas; 5657 teragrams). Urban trees sequestered another 1.5% (88 teragram
Teragram

Teragram may refer to:* 1012 kilogram* Teragram Corporation...
s). To further reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 7%, as stipulated by the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3–14 June 1992....
, would require the planting of "an area the size of Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 [8% of the area of Brazil] every 30 years". Carbon offset
Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent ....
 programs are planting millions of fast-growing trees per year to reforest tropical lands, for as little as $0.10 per tree; over their typical 40-year lifetime, one million of these trees will fix 0.9 teragrams of carbon dioxide. In Canada, reducing timber harvesting would have very little impact on carbon dioxide emissions because of the combination of harvest and stored carbon in manufactured wood products along with the regrowth of the harvested forests. Additionally, the amount of carbon released from harvesting is small compared to the amount of carbon lost each year to forest fires and other natural disturbances.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body tasked to risk management of climate change caused by human activity....
 concluded that "a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit". Sustainable management practices keep forests growing at a higher rate over a potentially longer period of time, thus providing net sequestration benefits in addition to those of unmanaged forests.

Life expectancy of forests varies throughout the world, influenced by tree species, site conditions and natural disturbance patterns. In some forests carbon may be stored for centuries, while in other forests carbon is released with frequent stand replacing fires. Forests that are harvested prior to stand replacing events allow for the retention of carbon in manufactured forest products such as lumber. However, only a portion of the carbon removed from logged forests ends up as durable goods and buildings. The remainder ends up as sawmill by-products such as pulp, paper and pallets, which often end with incineration (resulting in carbon release into the atmosphere) at the end of their lifecycle. For instance, of the 1,692 teragrams of carbon harvested from forests in Oregon and Washington (U.S) from 1900 to 1992, only 23% is in long-term storage in forest products.

Oceans

One way to increase the carbon sequestration efficiency of the oceans is to add micrometre-sized iron particles in the form of either hematite
Hematite

Hematite, Spelling differences#Simplification of ae .28.C3.A6.29 and oe .28.C5.93.29 h?matite, is the mineral form of Iron oxide , one of several iron oxides....
 (iron oxide) or melanterite (iron sulfate) to certain regions of the ocean. This has the effect of stimulating growth of plankton
Plankton

Plankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their Phylogenetics or taxonomy classification....
. Iron is an important nutrient for phytoplankton
Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek language words phyton, or "plant", and p?a??t?? , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"....
, usually made available via upwelling along the continental shelves, inflows from rivers and streams, as well as deposition of dust suspended in the atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, and trace amounts of other gases....
. Natural sources of ocean iron have been declining in recent decades, contributing to an overall decline in ocean productivity (NASA, 2003). Yet in the presence of iron nutrients plankton populations quickly grow, or 'bloom', expanding the base of biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 productivity throughout the region and removing significant quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis
Photosynthesis

File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
. A test in 2002 in the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60th parallel south latitude....
 around Antarctica
Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctica of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean....
 suggests that between 10,000 and 100,000 carbon atoms are sunk for each iron atom added to the water. More recent work in Germany (2005) suggests that any biomass carbon in the oceans, whether exported to depth or recycled in the euphotic zone, represents long-term storage of carbon. This means that application of iron nutrients in select parts of the oceans, at appropriate scales, could have the combined effect of restoring ocean productivity while at the same time mitigating the effects of human caused emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Because the effect of periodic small scale phytoplankton blooms on ocean ecosystems is unclear, more studies would be helpful. Phytoplankton have a complex effect on cloud formation via the release of substances such as dimethyl sulfide
Dimethyl sulfide

Dimethyl sulfide or methylthiomethane is an Organosulfur compounds compound with the formula 2S. Dimethyl sulfide is a water-insoluble flammable liquid that boils at 37?C and has a characteristic disagreeable odor....
 (DMS) that are converted to sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere, providing cloud condensation nuclei
Cloud condensation nuclei

Cloud condensation nuclei or CCNs are small particles about which cloud droplets coalescence . Water requires a non-gaseous surface to make the transition from a vapour to a liquid....
, or CCN. But the effect of small scale plankton blooms on overall DMS production is unknown.

Other nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, and silica as well as iron may cause ocean fertilization. There has been some speculation that using pulses of fertilization (around 20 days in length) may be more effective at getting carbon to ocean floor than sustained fertilization.

There is some controversy over seeding the oceans with iron however, due to the potential for increased toxic phytoplankton growth (e.g. "red tide
Red tide

"Red tide" is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom, an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column....
"), declining water quality due to overgrowth, and increasing anoxia in areas harming other sea-life such as zooplankton, fish, coral, etc.

Soils

Since the 1850s, a large proportion of the world's grasslands have been tilled and converted to croplands, allowing the rapid oxidation of large quantities of soil organic carbon. However, in the United States in 2004 (the most recent year for which EPA statistics are available), agricultural soils including pasture land sequestered 0.8% (46 teragrams) as much carbon as was released in the United States by the combustion of fossil fuels (5988 teragrams). The annual amount of this sequestration has been gradually increasing since 1998.

Methods that significantly enhance carbon sequestration in soil include no-till farming
No-till farming

No-till farming is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage....
, residue mulching, cover crop
Cover crop

Broadly defined, a cover crop is any Annual plant, Biennial plant, or perennial plant grown as a monoculture or polyculture , to improve any number of conditions associated with sustainable agriculture....
ping, and crop rotation
Crop rotation

Crop rotation or Crop sequencing is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of Crop in the same area in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped....
, all of which are more widely used in organic farming
Organic farming

Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pest s, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and gen...
 than in conventional farming. Because only 5% of US farmland currently uses no-till and residue mulching, there is a large potential for carbon sequestration. Conversion to pastureland, particularly with good management of grazing, can sequester even more carbon in the soil.

Terra preta
Terra preta

Terra preta refers to expanses of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soils found in the Amazon Basin. It owes its name to its very high charcoal content....
, an anthropogenic
Anthropogenic

Anthropogenic effects, processes or materials are those that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in natural environments without human influence....
, high-carbon soil, is also being investigated as a sequestration mechanism. By pyrolysing
Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of a condensed substance by heating. The word is coined from the Greek language-derived morphemes pyro "fire" and lysys "decomposition"....
 biomass, about half of its carbon can be reduced to charcoal
Charcoal

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances....
, which can persist in the soil for centuries, and makes a useful soil amendment, especially in tropical soils (biochar
Biochar

Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. The resulting charcoal-like material can be used as a soil improver to create terra preta, and is a form of carbon capture and storage....
 or agrichar).

Savanna

Controlled burn
Controlled burn

Controlled or prescribed burning, also known as hazard reduction burning is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or Greenhouse gas abatement....
s on far north Australian savanna
Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
s can result in an overall carbon sink. One working example is the West Arnhem Fire Management Agreement, started to bring "strategic fire management across 28,000 km˛ of Western Arnhem Land". Deliberately starting controlled burns early in the dry season results in a mosaic of burnt and unburnt country which reduces the area of burning compared with stronger, late dry season fires. In the early dry season there are higher moisture levels, cooler temperatures, and lighter wind than later in the dry season; fires tend to go out overnight. Early controlled burns also results in a smaller proportion of the grass and tree biomass being burnt. Emission reductions of 256,000 tonnes of CO2 have been made as of 2007.

Artificial sequestration


For carbon to be sequestered artificially (i.e. not using the natural processes of the carbon cycle) it must first be captured, or it must be significantly delayed or prevented from being re-released into the atmosphere (by combustion, decay, etc.) from an existing carbon-rich material, by being incorporated into an enduring usage (such as in construction). Thereafter it can be passively stored or remain productively utilized over time in a variety of ways.

For example, upon harvesting, wood (as a carbon-rich material) can be immediately burned or otherwise serve as a fuel, returning its carbon to the atmosphere, or it can be incorporated into construction or a range of other durable products, thus sequestering its carbon over years or even centuries. One ton of dry wood is equivalent to 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide.

Indeed, a very carefully-designed and durable, energy-efficient and energy-capturing building has the potential to sequester (in its carbon-rich construction materials), as much as or more carbon than was released by the acquisition and incorporation of all its materials and than will be released by building-function "energy-imports" during the structure's (potentially multi-century) existence. Such a structure might be termed "carbon neutral" or even "carbon negative". Building construction and operation (electricity usage, heating, etc) are estimated to contribute nearly half of the annual human-caused carbon additions to the atmosphere.

Natural-gas purification plants often already have to remove carbon dioxide, either to avoid dry ice
Dry ice

Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide. It is commonly used as a versatile cooling agent.Dry ice Sublimation , changing directly to a gas at atmospheric pressure....
 clogging gas tankers or to prevent carbon-dioxide concentrations exceeding the 3% maximum permitted on the natural-gas distribution grid.

Beyond this, one of the most likely early applications of carbon capture is the capture of carbon dioxide from flue gas
Flue gas

Flue gas is gas that exits to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator....
es at power station
Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the Electricity generation of electric power.Power plant is also used to refer to the engine in ships, aircraft and other large vehicles....
s (in the case of coal, this is known as "clean coal
Clean coal

Clean coal is an umbrella term term used to promote the use of coal as an energy source by emphasizing methods being developed to reduce its environmental impact....
"). A typical new 1000 MW coal-fired power station produces around 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Adding carbon capture to existing plants can add significantly to the costs of energy production; scrubbing costs aside, a 1000 MW coal plant will require the storage of about 50 million barrel
Barrel

A barrel or cask is a hollow Cylinder container, traditionally made of wood staves and bound with iron hoops. The term "barrel" typically refers to wooden vessels that are small enough to be moved by hand, up to puncheon size ....
s of carbon dioxide a year. However, scrubbing is relatively affordable when added to new plants based on coal gasification technology, where it is estimated to raise energy costs for households in the United States using only coal-fired electricity sources from 10 cents per kW·h to 12 cents.

Carbon capture

Currently, capture of carbon dioxide is performed on a large scale by absorption of carbon dioxide onto various amine-based solvents
Amine gas treating

Amine gas treating, also known as gas sweetening and acid gas removal, refers to a group of processes that use aqueous solutions of various alkanolamines to remove hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from gases....
. Other techniques are currently being investigated, such as pressure swing adsorption
Pressure swing adsorption

Pressure Swing Adsorption is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure according to the species' molecular characteristics and affinity for an adsorbent material....
, temperature swing adsorption, gas separation membranes
Gas separation

Gas mixtures can be effectively separated by synthetic membranes. For other methods see adsorption, absorption , cryogenic distillation.Membranes are employed in:...
, and cryogenics
Distillation

Distillation is a method of separation process mixtures based on differences in their Volatility in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
. Recent pilot studies include flue capture
Flue gas

Flue gas is gas that exits to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator....
 and conversion to baking soda and use of algae
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
 for conversion to fuel
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
 or feed
Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
(reference needed).

In coal-fired power stations, the main alternatives to retrofitting amine-based absorbers to existing power stations are two new technologies: coal gasification combined-cycle
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle

An Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, or IGCC, is a Power station using synthetic gas . This gas is often used to power a gas turbine generator whose waste heat is passed to a steam turbine system ....
 and oxy-fuel combustion. Gasification first produces a "syngas
Syngas

Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal and in some types of waste-to-energy gasification facilities....
" primarily of hydrogen
Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
 and carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO, is a colorless and odorless, tasteless, yet highly toxic gas. Its molecules consist of one carbon atom covalent bond to one oxygen atom....
, which is burned, with carbon dioxide filtered from the flue gas. Oxy-fuel combustion burns the coal in oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 instead of air
AIR

Air is the part of Earth's atmosphere that humans breath and as such Air .Air may also refer to:...
, producing only carbon dioxide and water vapour, which are relatively easily separated. Some of the combustion products must be returned to the combustion chamber, either before or after separation, otherwise the temperatures would be too high for the turbine.

Another long-term option is carbon capture directly from the air using hydroxides. The air would literally be scrubbed of its CO2 content. This idea offers an alternative to non-carbon-based fuels
Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source fuels, that is, carbon or hydrocarbons found in the earth?s Crust .Fossil fuel range from volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal....
 for the transportation sector.

Examples of carbon sequestration at coal plants include converting carbon from smokestacks into baking soda, and algae-based carbon capture, circumventing storage by converting algae into fuel or feed.

Oceans

Another proposed form of carbon sequestration in the ocean is direct injection. In this method, carbon dioxide is pumped directly into the water at depth, and expected to form "lakes" of liquid CO2 at the bottom. Experiments carried out in moderate to deep waters (350 - 3600 m) indicate that the liquid CO2 reacts to form solid CO2 clathrate hydrate
Clathrate hydrate

Clathrate hydrates were first documented in 1810 by Sir Humphrey Davy; they are crystalline water based solids physically resembling ice, in which small Chemical polarity molecules are trapped inside "cages" of hydrogen bonded water ....
s, which gradually dissolve in the surrounding waters.

This method, too, has potentially dangerous environmental consequences. The carbon dioxide does react with the water to form carbonic acid
Carbonic acid

Carbonic acid has the Molecular formula H2CO3. It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water , which contain small amounts of H2CO3....
, H2CO3; however, most (as much as 99%) remains as dissolved molecular CO2. The equilibrium would no doubt be quite different under the high pressure conditions in the deep ocean. In addition, if deep-sea bacterial methanogens that reduce carbon dioxide were to encounter the carbon dioxide sinks, levels of methane
Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula . It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees....
 gas may increase, leading to the generation of an even worse greenhouse gas. The resulting environmental effects on benthic life forms of the bathypelagic, abyssopelagic and hadopelagic zones are unknown. Even though life appears to be rather sparse in the deep ocean basins, energy and chemical effects in these deep basins could have far-reaching implications. Much more work is needed here to define the extent of the potential problems.

Carbon storage in or under oceans may not be compatible with the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter

The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dumping and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention....
.

An additional method of long-term ocean-based sequestration is to gather crop residue
Crop residue

There are two types of agriculture crop residues:Field residues are materials left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested....
 such as corn stalks or excess hay into large weighted bales of biomass and deposit it in the alluvial fan
Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is a fan -shaped deposition formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain....
 areas of the deep ocean basin. Dropping these residues in alluvial fans would cause the residues to be quickly buried in silt on the sea floor, sequestering the biomass for very long time spans. Alluvial fans exist in all of the world's oceans and seas where river deltas fall off the edge of the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 such as the Mississippi alluvial fan
Mississippi Delta

The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi River and Yazoo Rivers. Technically not a River delta but part of an alluvial plain, it has been said that the Delta "begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg, Mississippi" ...
 in the gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
 and the Nile alluvial fan
Nile Delta

The Nile Delta is the River delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas?from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline?and is a rich agricultural region....
 in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
. A downside, however, would be an increase in aerobic bacteria growth due to the introduction of biomass, leading to more competition for oxygen resources in the deep sea, similar to the oxygen minimum zone
Oxygen minimum zone

The Oxygen minimum zone is the zone in which oxygen saturation in seawater in the ocean is at its lowest. This zone occurs at depths of about 200 to 1,000 metres, depending on local circumstances....
.

Geological sequestration

The method of geo-sequestration or geological storage involves injecting carbon dioxide directly into underground geological formations. Declining oil field
Oil field

An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area....
s, saline aquifer
Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
s, and unminable coal seams have been suggested as storage sites. Caverns and old mines that are commonly used to store natural gas are not considered, because of a lack of storage safety.

CO2 has been injected into declining oil fields for more than 40 years, to increase oil recovery. This option is attractive because the storage costs are offset by the sale of additional oil that is recovered. Typically, 10-15% additional recovery of the original oil in place is possible. Further benefits are the existing infrastructure and the geophysical and geological information about the oil field that is available from the oil exploration. Another benefit of injecting CO2 into Oil fields is that CO2 is soluble in oil. Dissolving CO2 in oil lowers the viscosity of the oil and reduces its interfacial tension which increases the oils mobility. All oil fields have a geological barrier preventing upward migration of oil. As most oil and gas has been in place for millions to tens of millions of years, depleted oil and gas reservoirs can contain carbon dioxide for millennia. Identified possible problems are the many 'leak' opportunities provided by old oil wells, the need for high injection pressures and acidification which can damage the geological barrier. Other disadvantages of old oil fields are their limited geographic distribution and depths, which require high injection pressures for sequestration. Below a depth of about 1000 m, carbon dioxide is injected as a supercritical fluid, a material with the density of a liquid, but the viscosity and diffusivity of a gas. Unminable coal seams can be used to store CO2, because CO2 absorbs to the coal surface, ensuring safe long-term storage. In the process it releases methane that was previously adsorbed to the coal surface and that may be recovered. Again the sale of the methane can be used to offset the cost of the CO2 storage, although release or burning of methane would of course at least partially offset the obtained sequestration result.

Saline aquifers contain highly mineralized brines and have so far been considered of no benefit to humans except in a few cases where they have been used for the storage of chemical waste. Their advantages include a large potential storage volume and relatively common occurrence reducing the distance over which CO2 has to be transported. The major disadvantage of saline aquifers is that relatively little is known about them compared to oil fields. Another disadvantage of saline aquifers is that as the salinity of the water increases, less CO2 can be dissolved into aqueous solution. To keep the cost of storage acceptable the geophysical exploration may be limited, resulting in larger uncertainty about the structure of a given aquifer. Unlike storage in oil fields or coal beds, no side product will offset the storage cost. Leakage of CO2 back into the atmosphere may be a problem in saline-aquifer storage. However, current research shows that several trapping mechanisms immobilize the CO2 underground, reducing the risk of leakage.

A major research project examining the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide is currently being performed at an oil field at Weyburn
Weyburn, Saskatchewan

Weyburn is a city in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina, Saskatchewan and is north of the border with the United States....
 in south-eastern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres and a population of 1,015,895 , mostly living in the southern half of the province....
. In the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, Norway's Statoil
Statoil

Statoil Allmennaksjeselskap was a Norway petroleum company established in 1972, now part of StatoilHydro. The brand Statoil is retained as a chain of Statoil owned by StatoilHydro....
 natural-gas platform Sleipner
Sleipner

Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse in Norse mythology. Sleipnir or Sleipner may also refer to:* the Sleipner gas field* the Sleipnir web browser...
 strips carbon dioxide out of the natural gas with amine solvents and disposes of this carbon dioxide by geological sequestration. Sleipner reduces emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately one million tonnes a year. The cost of geological sequestration is minor relative to the overall running costs. As of April 2005, BP
BP

BP plc , is the third largest global energy corporation, a multinational corporation oil company with headquarters in London. The company is among the largest private sector energy corporations in the world, and one of the six "supermajors" ....
 is considering a trial of large-scale sequestration of carbon dioxide stripped from power plant emissions in the Miller oilfield as its reserves are depleted.

In October 2007, the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin received a 10-year, $38 million subcontract to conduct the first intensively monitored, long-term project in the United States studying the feasibility of injecting a large volume of CO2 for underground storage. The project is a research program of the , funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory
National Energy Technology Laboratory

The National Energy Technology Laboratory is a science, technology, and energy laboratory owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy ....
 of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
United States Department of Energy

The United States Department of Energy is a United States Cabinet-level department of the United States government of the United States responsible for Energy policy of the United States and nuclear safety....
. The SECARB partnership will demonstrate CO2 injection rate and storage capacity in the Tuscaloosa-Woodbine geologic system that stretches from Texas to Florida. Beginning in fall 2007, the project will inject CO2 at the rate of one million tons per year, for up to 1.5 years, into brine up to below the land surface near the Cranfield oil field about east of Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi

Natchez is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated city within Adams County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,464....
. Experimental equipment will measure the ability of the subsurface to accept and retain CO2.

Mineral sequestration

Mineral sequestration aims to trap carbon in the form of solid carbonate
Carbonate

In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt or ester of carbonic acid....
 salts. This process occurs slowly in nature and is responsible for the deposition and accumulation of limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 (calcium carbonate) over geologic time. Carbonic acid
Carbonic acid

Carbonic acid has the Molecular formula H2CO3. It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water , which contain small amounts of H2CO3....
 in groundwater slowly reacts with complex silicates to dissolve calcium
Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
, magnesium
Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass....
, alkalis and silica and leave a residue of clay minerals
Clay minerals

Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium Silicate_minerals#Phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths and other cations....
. The dissolved calcium and magnesium react with bicarbonate
Bicarbonate

In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. Its chemical formula is HCO3−....
 to precipitate calcium and magnesium carbonates, a process that organisms use to make shells. When the organisms die, their shells are deposited as sediment and eventually turn into limestone. Limestones have accumulated over billions of years of geologic time and contain much of Earth's carbon. Ongoing research aims to speed up similar reactions involving alkali carbonates.

One proposed reaction is that of the olivine-rich rock dunite
Dunite

Dunite is an igneous rock, plutonic rock , of ultramafic composition, with coarse-grained or phaneritic texture. The mineral assemblage is greater than 90% olivine, with minor amounts of other minerals such as pyroxene, chromite and pyrope....
, or its hydrated equivalent serpentinite
Serpentinite

Serpentinite is a Rock composed of one or more serpentine minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic rock transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's Mantle ....
 with carbon dioxide to form the carbonate mineral magnesite
Magnesite

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, magnesiumcarbonoxygen3. Iron substitutes for magnesium with a complete solution series with siderite, FeCO3....
, plus silica and iron oxide (magnetite
Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetism mineral with chemical formula Iron3Oxygen4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group....
).

Serpentinite sequestration is favored because of the non-toxic and stable nature of magnesium carbonate. The ideal reactions involve the magnesium endmember components of the olivine
Olivine

The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals with the formula 2siliconoxygen4. It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been identified in meteorites and on the Moon, Mars, and comet Wild 2....
 (reaction 1) or serpentine
Serpentine

The serpentine group describes a group of common rock-forming hydroxy magnesium iron Silicate minerals#Phyllosilicates minerals; they may contain minor amounts of other elements including chromium, manganese, cobalt and nickel....
 (reaction 2), the latter derived from earlier olivine by hydration and silicification (reaction 3). The presence of iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
 in the olivine or serpentine reduces the efficiency of sequestration, since the iron components of these minerals break down to iron oxide and silica (reaction 4).

Serpentinite reactions
Reaction 1
Mg-Olivine + Carbon dioxide ? Magnesite + Silica
Mg2SiO4 + 2CO2 → 2MgCO3 + SiO2 + H2O


Reaction 2
Serpentine + carbon dioxide ? Magnesite + silica + water
Mg3[Si2O5(OH)4] + 3CO2 → 3MgCO3 + 2SiO2 + 2H2O


Reaction 3
Mg-Olivine + Water + Silica ? Serpentine
3Mg2SiO4 + 2SiO2 + 4H2O
? 2Mg3[Si2O5(OH)4

Reaction 4
Fe-Olivine + Water ? Magnetite + Silica + Hydrogen
3Fe2SiO4 + 2H2O → 2Fe3O4 + 3SiO2 + 2H2


Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks
Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks is a metal-organic framework
Metal-organic framework

Metal-Organic Frameworks are crystalline compounds consisting of metal ions or clusters coordinated to often rigid organic molecules to form one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures that can be porous....
 carbon dioxide sink which could be used to keep industrial emissions of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 out of the atmosphere
Atmosphere

An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, by the gravity of the body, and are retained for a longer duration if gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low....
.

See also

  • Biochar
    Biochar

    Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. The resulting charcoal-like material can be used as a soil improver to create terra preta, and is a form of carbon capture and storage....
  • Carbon capture and storage
    Carbon capture and storage

    Carbon capture and storage is an approach to Mitigation of global warming the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming, based on capturing carbon dioxide from large Point source pollution such as fossil fuel power plants....
  • Carbon cycle
    Carbon cycle

    The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and Earth's atmosphere of the Earth....
  • Carbon flux
  • Carbon offset
    Carbon offset

    A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent ....
  • CO2 sequestration
    CO2 sequestration

    Carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide through biological, chemical or physical processes, for the mitigation of global warming....
  • Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
    Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change

    The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change is a non-profit organization based in Arizona. Its stated purpose is to "disseminate factual reports and sound commentary on new developments in the world-wide scientific quest to determine the climatic and biological consequences of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content." The C...
  • Iron fertilization
    Iron fertilization

    for information on ocean fertilization schemes not involving iron.Iron fertilization is the natural or intentional introduction of iron, an essential nutrient, to the upper ocean to stimulate the marine food chain and to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....
  • Carbonic fertilization
  • North American Carbon Program
    North American Carbon Program

    The North American Carbon Program is one of the major elements of the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.The central objective of NACP is to measure and understand carbon stocks and the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide , methane , and carbon monoxide in North America and in adjacent ocean regions....


External links


General

  • Recent news articles on CO2 capture and storage.
  • University of Texas at Austin research center that investigates geologic storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the Gulf Coast region.
  • - An initiative to track and scrutinize carbon sink projects
  • *


Research

  • FAO
    Food and Agriculture Organization

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger....
     (2004)
  • IEA Reports: and
  • Haszeldine (2005)
  • The Role of Carbon in Agricultural Soils in Carbon Sequestration - A Better Alternative for Climate Change? Chapter 1: Agricultural Sinks (1999) University of Maryland
  • Schlesinger, W.H. 1991. Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change. Academic Press, San Diego.


Action

  • Seattle Times, 20 February 2004, (Weyburn oil field)
  • Observer 24 April 2005