Norwegian breakthrough on global warming?
In a paper published in the 'Geophysical research letters' on 1 July, three Norwegian scientists put forward the idea that CO2 emissions, one of the major causes of the 'greenhouse effect' could be buried at sea, reducing their effect on the environment. The theory emerged from the Nansen environmental and remote sensing centre in Bergen, Norway (and affiliated to the city's university). The idea is to pump the carbon dioxide directly from offshore oil and gas fields into ocean waters which are sufficiently deep. 'Carbon dioxide is not the most aggressive of the greenhouse gases, but it is the most common,' says Dr Guttorm Alendal. 'The best thing to do is store it and the best place to store it is in the ocean.' Dr Alendal accepts that this will only reduce the effect of the carbon dioxide rather than eliminate it, but the main difference with releasing it directly into the environment is that there are no major peaks in effects in terms of global warming. The method of storing the carbon dioxide in the deep of the ocean would be either by land pipe, a moving ship or a pipe in the ocean. The Norwegian sea was seen as a particularly appropriate location as it has a very deep basin and also has oil and gas fields. Norway is the second largest oil exporter in the world and the sixth largest producer, so the scheme could tackle the problem 'at source'. The theory will be put into practical trials later this year in Hawaii. Dr Alendal is aware that the potential drawbacks of the project could be to affect the pH of the area where the carbon dioxide is stored - and this will be one of the things that he and his two fellow originators of the theory will be looking for. The project has now taken on an international focus with the Japan, USA, Canada all contributing, as well as receiving assistance from Australia and the company ABB, giving the project a $4 million budget. The initial study had been funded by the European Commission's environment and climate programme, the Norwegian research council, the Nordic council of ministers and Saga petroleum.