From the Daily Skeptic
Chris Morrison
If carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves fracking to extract natural gas, it would have been banned years ago. Both processes can cause earthquakes—the equivalent of a person falling out of their chair in the case of fracking, but potentially much bigger in the case of carbon capture. That's because it involves pumping millions of tons of pressurized carbon dioxide into rock cavities that may have been damaged by previous drilling. It is understood that wastewater from pressurized oil and gas projects will escape from degraded drill plugs, forming 100-foot-tall geysers. Such a disaster on land would result in millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions2 Waiting to escape is not a good prospect. On August 21, 1986, magma CO suddenly released at high pressure2 Carbon dioxide emissions from Cameroon's Nyos lake bed are heavier than air2 Suffocating all living creatures in the surrounding villages, including 1,746 people.
As the lie of the climate crisis begins to unravel in the face of reality, CCS divides a divisive green movement. capture carbon dioxide2 An influential green think tank has described burying it underground as a “huge waste of money”. Waste of taxpayers' money is not something most Greens lose sleep over, but they don't like CCS because it allows for a role in the future use of hydrocarbons, albeit a limited one. As we recently discussed in daily skepticThe UK has finally made up its mind that there will be no backup for the renewable energy grid in 2030 other than gas, so Crazy Miliband authorized the creation of a £22 billion CCS black hole. It's a huge waste of money but provides a fig leaf for the continued use of hydrocarbons.
If the U.S. and European governments are going to pump billions of tons of pressurized gas into the formations beneath our feet studded with thousands of filled boreholes, it might be a good idea to study the wisdom and safety of this course of action. Such a task cannot be left to the mainstream media, although they have been quick to report stories of earthquakes and tap water fires to demonize natural gas fracking (yes, really, look at it).
First some geology. Natural gas is found near oil fields near the surface, but also accumulates at greater depths. It is anchored by layers of sedimentary rock such as limestone or sandstone. In the United States, the Permian Basin stretches across western Texas and southwestern New Mexico, and its rich mineral deposits have been mined for more than a hundred years. The area is dotted with hundreds of thousands of boreholes. Records of the locations and safety inspections of some of these holes now do not exist.
In 2016, a team of researchers at Penn State University observed that when CO2 Stored underground through a process called geological sequestration “Due to the chemical reactions between carbon dioxide, it can find multiple ways to escape.”2water, rock and cement from abandoned wells”. Some people are worried about carbon dioxide2 May leak into groundwater drinking aquifers or dissolve into saline sediments. As a result, highly acidic brine-CO2 Can dissolve certain types of rock as well as cement casings on abandoned wells. People worry about carbon monoxide plume2– Saturated brine may rush to the surface, possibly with millions of tons of pressurized gas looking for an opportunity to follow.
Mary Kang, a professor of engineering at McGill University, claims she has seen “countless times” where oil wells became clogged and became unsustainable. Erik Van Oort, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, points out that cement cannot withstand earthquakes, high temperatures and time. “Crustal stress, high temperatures — things beneath the surface are changing and shifting,” he said. He believes that plugged holes may start leaking in the future.
UK's current plans to bury carbon dioxide2 under offshore waters. So there are some staggering costs involved. But no place is immune to the forces of nature, and the British Geological Survey recently said CCS needs to be “rigorously monitored” to ensure the integrity of long-term storage. This will be carefully monitored over thousands of years, with plans to retain CO22 underground. Good luck. Geological carbon dioxide regulatory framework2 Storage technologies are being developed globally and to address leakage and long-term management issues. Blessings again to future generations who will continue to raise £22 billion thousands of years later (Note to readers: feel free to invent your own very large graphics at this point) Ensure that large amounts of high-pressure gas are safely stored beneath the surface.
Desmog Most recently, left-wing cash cow Rowntree Foundation allocated £400,000 to continue promoting the fracking scare story and its infamous “blacklist” of so-called climate deniers. On October 4, a blowout in the Permian Basin was reported, creating a 100-foot-tall oil and water tower. Noting that drilling and fracking in the region use millions of gallons of water every day Desmog. “This is a ripper,” said Hawk Dunlap, the Libertarian candidate for the Railroad Commission. “It could come from anywhere, and it's not an easy problem to solve,” he said. Desmog Dunlap said the area where the geyser erupted has been plagued by earthquakes and has seen record wastewater production, according to the bulletin.
Desmog Full support for the fictional climate crisis and an enthusiastic supporter of the political “net zero” fantasy. It apparently hates all hydrocarbon use and has reported problems with carbon capture. For its part, the mainstream media just insists on demonizing fracking. Politicians in many jurisdictions acknowledge the need to pour large sums of money into CCS vulnerabilities but clearly do not understand the risks involved.
Chris Morrison is daily skepticenvironment editor.
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