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Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from large point sources like power plants and storing it so it does not enter the atmosphere. There are three main approaches - geological sequestration involves injecting CO2 deep underground, ocean sequestration involves pumping liquefied CO2 into the deep ocean, and terrestrial sequestration uses plants and soils to absorb CO2 through photosynthesis. Reforestation is seen as a key method of terrestrial sequestration due to trees' ability to absorb and store large amounts of carbon while growing.

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28 views

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from large point sources like power plants and storing it so it does not enter the atmosphere. There are three main approaches - geological sequestration involves injecting CO2 deep underground, ocean sequestration involves pumping liquefied CO2 into the deep ocean, and terrestrial sequestration uses plants and soils to absorb CO2 through photosynthesis. Reforestation is seen as a key method of terrestrial sequestration due to trees' ability to absorb and store large amounts of carbon while growing.

Uploaded by

Kavan Gt12
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CARBON SEQUESTRATION

INTRODUCTION
• CO2 is one of the main greenhouse gases that is causing
global warming and forcing climate change.

• The continued increased in CO2 concentration in the


atmosphere is believed to be accelerated by human
activities such as burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

• One of the approaches to reduce CO2 concentration in the


atmosphere is carbon sequestration. Carbon Sequestration
is the placement of CO2 into a depository in such way that
it remains safely and not released back to the atmosphere
.
• Sequestration means something that is locked away for safe
keeping. The trapping of a chemical in the atmosphere or
environment and its isolation in a natural or artificial
storage area.
2018 monsoon in north Karnataka 2019 monsoon in north Karnataka
About 906000 hectares i.e.( 2.24×106 acres; 9,060 km2) About 400 acres of Bandipur forest was lost in 2019
of forest within the Amazon was lost in August 2019
Assam floods 2019 at Kaziranga National Park
Effect of Hurricane Dorian at Bahamas September 2019
Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region (2008) Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region (2018)
 Carbon sequestration (CS) is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide
(CO2) that is produced by natural and human activities. Most of the CO2 is formed by
the combustion of fossil fuels, primarily petroleum and coal.
 Man made source of carbon emission
• Industries
• Transportation
• Deforestation
• Soil cultivation
 Natural sources of carbon emission
• Volcanoes
• Respiration
• Forest fires
• Decomposition
 Carbon can be sequestered in three ways:
1. Geological sequestration : Underground
2. Ocean Sequestration : Deep in ocean
3. Terrestrial Sequestration : In plants and soil

 Geological sequestration or geologic carbon storage :


 It is a type of CS that uses the natural trapping ability of the earth's deep subsurface
environment to store CO2 that has been injected into that realm.
 CO2 is initially captured from a place where it is created, such as a fossil-fuel-fired
power generation facility, oil refinery, cement kiln, or ethanol plant. At such point
sources, the CO2 is concentrated enough to make the separation and compression of
the gas feasible. The gas is then transported by pipeline to a geological sequestration
site for injection and confinement.
 Direct air capture sucks carbon dioxide out of the air by using fans to move air over
substances that bind specifically to carbon dioxide. The technology employs
compounds in a liquid solution or in a coating on a solid that capture CO2 as they
come into contact with it; when later exposed to heat and chemical reactions, they
release the CO2, which can then be compressed and stored underground.
Waste CO2 from the steam (I) goes to the gas separation station (II) is diluted in
water (III) piped to the injection site (IIII) and pumped underground where it
mineralises into rock.
 Once CO2 is injected deep underground (typically more than 800 meters) it is trapped in
minute pores or spaces in the rock structure. Impermeable cap rocks above the storage
zones act as seals to ensure the safe storage of CO2.
Underground, the CO2 solution comes into contact
Before and after porous basalt (left) and basalt with
with basalt and turns into white, chalky calcites that
mineralised CO2 within its pores
fill the pores of the rock
 Carbon mineralization
 This strategy exploits a natural process wherein reactive materials like basaltic lava
chemically bond with CO2, forming solid carbonate minerals such as limestone that can
store CO2 for millions of years. The reactive materials can be combined with CO2-
bearing fluid at carbon capture stations, or the fluid can be pumped into reactive rock
formations where they naturally occur.

Calcite, a carbonate mineral, forming in basalt


Hellisheidi hit a major milestone, it hosted the world's first "negative emission" system, capable of sucking
CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it underground. Fresh basalts are like sponges, with plenty of cavities
that are filled with the CO2. Iceland is particularly favourable for this type of CS simply because of the amount
of basalt it's got.
The injection site is in the vicinity of the Hellisheidi mammoth geothermal plant located at south-west Iceland.
After the first pilot, samples of rock were drilled out from the basalt bedrock to check whether the CO2
had solidified.
Columnar Basaltic Lava rock formations at St. Marys island Udupi, Karnataka
Potential pathways of CO2 leakage from geologic sequestration
2. Ocean sequestration
 One of the most promising places to sequester carbon is in the oceans, which currently take
up a third of the carbon emitted by human activity, roughly two billion metric tons each year.
 Carbon is naturally sequestered in the ocean, in two ways i.e. by direct injection or ocean
fertilization.
 Direct injection involves pumping liquefied carbon dioxide at thousand meters deep or
deeper, either directly from shore stations or from tankers trailing long pipes at sea.
 At great depths, CO2 is denser than sea water, and it may be possible to store it on the
bottom as liquid or deposits of icy hydrates.


 The other major approach to sequestration is to "prime the biological pump" by fertilizing the
ocean. Near the surface, carbon is fixed by plant-like phytoplankton, which are eaten by sea
animals; some eventually rains down as waste and dead organisms.
3. Terrestrial Sequestration:
 The process through which CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed naturally through
photosynthesis & stored as carbon in biomass & soils.
 Trees are Carbon storage experts. One half the dry weight of wood is carbon. Trees
take in CO2 from the air in the process called photosynthesis.
 The trees effectively breaks down the CO2, stores the carbon in all parts of the tree,
and releases the oxygen back into the atmosphere. Fast growing trees are, in fact,
the most efficient way to sequester atmospheric carbon.
 Agricultural practices help in sequestering carbon in soils such as zero or reduced
tillage, crop residue incorporation in fields, preventing organic matter loss, soil
erosion control, cover cropping, green manuring, crop rotations and agro-forestry.
 As per Paris Agreement on 2016, 43 countries have pledged to restore 292m
hectares of degraded land to forest worldwide. That’s an area about ten times the
size of the UK.
Billion hectares of forest that could be planted as per Paris Agreement 2016 – excluding desert, farmland and urban
areas.
 Even if the world reduces its carbon emissions to zero by 2050, there will still need to be negative
global carbon emissions for the rest of the century. Drawing CO₂ out of the atmosphere to
stabilise global warming at 1.5˚C. Reforestation is essential for creating negative emissions and not
just reducing the amount of carbon that humans are still emitting.
Bottom line?
We need to reduce emissions dramatically, we need to come up with more renewable energy options
to replace fossil fuels, we need to electrify a lot of things that are currently run on petroleum and then
we need to do an enormous amount of carbon removal.”
While the best solution to climate change remains leaving fossil fuels in the ground, we will still need
to suck carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the atmosphere this century if we are to keep global warming
below 1.5˚C. So the answer is Reforestation.

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