Deep-Sea Carbon Sequestration

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07/25/2008

Jul. 25, 2008

Deep-Sea Carbon Sequestration

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Could porous rocks deep in the ocean floor be a place to stash unwanted carbon dioxide? While researchers are trying to develop ways to scrub unwanted carbon dioxide from industrial and power plant emissions, the problem of what to do with the captured CO2 is a tricky one. Some have proposed injecting the gas deep into oil wells, while others suggest chemical ways to convert the gas into a solid form that could be buried. Now, scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory suggest that undersea basalt formations some 8,000 feet under the ocean off the shore of the Pacific Northwest could absorb up to 120 years worth of US CO2 emissions. Their work was reported last week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In this segment, we'll talk with one of the researchers behind the proposal about how it might work.

Produced by Annette Heist, Senior Producer

Guests

David Goldberg
Geophysicist

Director, Borehole Research Group

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Palisades, New York

Jul. 25, 2008