Although, clean coal technology has yet to prove it’s viability, storage of the fluid CO2, which would result from the process, should raise many concerns. While watching a documentary about the processing and sequestration techniques under development, some concerns arose, for me. As I viewed animations illustrate the process of pumping fluid CO2, beneath the earth’s surface, into either man-made pockets, or more likely natural geological formations, it immediately occurred to me that any nearby earthquake or other seismic disturbance, could bring about disastrous consequences. The prospect of CO2, release due to seismic activity, brought to mind a tragic natural disaster which occurred a little over 20 years ago, in Lake Nyos, Cameroon.
Lake Nyos had developed in the remnants of an old volcanic crater. One evening in August of 1986, as local villagers slept, a noxious cloud of CO2 was released from beneath the lake. The poisonous gas flowed down from the lake into surrounding low lying areas, killing nearly 2000 people, and vast amounts of livestock and wildlife. Deaths occurred up to 15 miles away from the source. Permanent inhabitation of the area is now prohibited. The amount of CO2 released during the Lake Nyos event, was quite small in relation to the vast deposits, which would result from implementation of carbon capture technology.
The situation becomes more worrisome when one considers that the current injection techniques, planned for use, were designed to handle fluids far less buoyant than CO2. Underground injection projects, involving these lower buoyancy fluids have already been implicated in the induction of seismic activity, causing many small earthquakes. The greater buoyancy of CO2, also increases the possibility of migration, into ground water or through the earth’s surface. It seems that the potential leakage of this highly concentrated CO2, from the deposits planned, could cause far more sudden and devastating environmental problems than unmitigated carbon emissions.
Our carbon footprint must be reduced, but this technology comes with too many problems. I feel the large amounts of capital currently being spent on development of clean coal technology, in an attempt to preserve the coal industry, would be better utilized promoting innovation in other alternative energy technologies.
Clean Coal Technology and It’s Potentially Catastrophic Risks