World’s Largest Carbon Sequestration Project Approved (Norway)

[Barrett808]

World’s Largest Carbon Sequestration Project Approved
by Jack Rosebro

Marking the removal of the final bureaucratic barrier to the construction of the world’s largest full-scale CO2 capture-and-storage (CCS) facility, Norway’s Ministry of the Environment has issued a carbon dioxide emission permit to Norwegian energy company Statoil ASA in conjunction with its planned co-generation plant in Mongstad.

Statoil is taking a phased approach to the project. The initial carbon capture capacity will be about 100,000 tonnes per year starting in 2010, and Statoil will decide in 2012 whether or not to invest in a larger capture facility for Phase 2. If realized, Phase 2 would be fully operational by the end of 2014 with a capacity of more than 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year—the world’s largest CCS project of its kind.

Statoil plans to test several technological solutions will be tested in parallel in the first phase of the project with an eye to developing solutions of “broad international relevance and not...project-specific to Norway.”

A technology company responsible for various aspects of the further development of the carbon capture technology is to be set up at Mongstad. The government will invite interested parties to consider part ownership, while Statoil will assume 20% per cent ownership from the start.

(more)

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/10/worlds_largest_.html

[formercia]

1. I had to chuckle

when I thought of all the carbon that my garden, lawn and trees have sequestered in the last year. Real low tech.

May I have a government subsidy, please? Oh, that's right,it will be a cold day in hell I get the time of day, let alone a wad of cash from Bush Gang.

[Barrett808]

2. In fact, if you use organic gardening/farming techniques...

...you sequester a lot of carbon in the soil. Pimintel estimates that each 320-acre organic farm sequesters the equivalent of 117 cars' worth of carbon emissions per year.

[formercia]

5. As we speak

I have been raking up leaves, bagging them and piling the bags along the foundation of our house for insulation. In the Spring, those leaves will be composted into the garden.

[havocmom]

3. Just what I was thinking! Wanna make the world better? Plant trees

and veggies. Catch some CO2 and get a little rain making mechanism working in a neighborhood near you!

People ask me how I define gardening as a political act. Oh, so many ways it is political... Start with teaching kids they can change things and create some of what they need themselves, pry them from the TV which is training them to be helpless consumers, show corporations you know the difference between 'need' and 'want'... empower people to make small positive changes in their immediate surroundings and lessen dependence on large corporations... Gee, how far could any of those lessons be expanded?

And make the weather better. Make friends of the birds and they will rid you of many bugs so you aren't as likely to resort to horrible chemical poisoning of your immediate surroundings. Might even find your blood pressure knocked down a few points, lessening your dependence on our very poor system of medical care delivery and the growing power of Big Pharma over your very existence.

Get some fresh air. Kick some ideas around in your head while doing menial, but healthy, physical chores. Clear out the emotional shit and get some perspective on what is really important.

Learn to plan a bit, to research how to make next year better. Give yourself space to experiment and tweak your methods if at first you don't succeed. Learn that great improvements are often done in small, manageable stages.

Gardening is a political act. And a damned good on. Teach some youngsters the values of tending the soil and plants and you have made them stronger participants in their own futures.

Stop waiting for 'somebody' to fix this or that. Realize the 'somebody' you hope for is YOU and start planting a future. Even if it's just a trash bag with potting soil and some lettuce seeds... make something grow. The world has enough pavement for cars to play on. Be the anti-pavement and make habitat for people and other critters ;)

[formercia]

6. I can sing off that sheet of music

Just my way of thinking.:)

[Kali]

7. Subversive!

Grow your own food! oooommmmmmmm I'm telling......

[rayofreason]

8. Excellent post.

There is nothing like the product of your own imagination and hands-on work.

[havocmom]

10. Yeah, actually, something better...

work WITH the natural world rather than against it. The rewards are great when one finds one fits into the scheme of things.

My favorite sight at a school in recent years: On the front lawn of a rather old school in a run down Tucson neighborhood... they tore up a few square yards of grass and the kids planted a garden. The kids raised food in an urban jungle.

It was a thing of beauty.

[blackhorse]

11. Gardening as a political act

Very political, havocmom.

You're binding yourself with a particular patch of ground. That's been a subtle no-no since the end of the Second World War; after all, we're all supposed to be "flexible" now in order to further our careers. I've come to translate that demand from employers as meaning "Don't have any roots to any particular area. We don't want you attached to the earth, your family, or the friends you grew up with. Because you draw strength from them."

I've also come to believe that doing the opposite and rebuilding the traditional sources of local community power is essential. The economic system is trying to rob us of all of our traditional strengths.

Also liked your comment about making friends with the birds. They're good neighbors, too.

Cheers

BH

[havocmom]

12. Hey there, blackhorse

You make some very good points. People not joined to the land are lost and easily led astray, aren't they?

The land gives strength, purpose, understanding and freedom. The corporations are now patenting seeds and swallowing up water rights. They are forcing people to be slaves. Food used to be a renewable resource that almost anyone could create. Now, we are impoverished.

We're all on the edge. Time to take stock, take a step back and touch the earth. Honor the mother. Take sustenance from her

And I am glad those wise Scandinavians are showing that good stewardship can also be a viable option in our modern economy. There is profit opportunity in taking care of the environment. One does not have to abuse the planet to make a living.

[Occulus]

4. Store the CO2, stockpile it, and use it later as raw material for

nanotech assemblers. :D

Watch the video at the link. No, it's not a pipe dream; the concept is actually completely viable and we'll probably see the first assemblers within the lifetimes of most of us here.

[Barrett808]

9. Sure, but we don't need to wait for nanotech for a carbon market

There are existing (and expanding) markets for carbon, e.g., the petroleum industry uses CO2 to manage flows in oil fields.