Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Breakthrough

Canada and the United States reached a major breakthrough this week in carbon sequestration. This means they could have reached a major breakthrough in slowing carbon outputs and reversing global warming.

Juliet O'Neill of the the Canwest news service was seemingly the only reporter at a news conference where the Canadian minister of the environment announced a groundbreaking collaboration between Canada and the United States on carbon sequestration.

The two countries agreed to spend $7 billion to fund selected research on carbon dioxide sequestration, or the capture of industrial pollution for either processing or storage. So new electric plants would have no nasty black plumes when they are burning coal to keep your lights on.

Carbon sequestration is a key part of the clean coal future promised by both major candidates in the 2008 presidential campaign. Those who keep track of energy news have been watching carbon sequestration research struggle along for years. So what's the big deal about another government agreement on the still-experimental technology?

It's two big deals, actually.

First, the promise of sustained government funding means some researchers can really get cracking on their projects. Much of the renewable energy industry has been subject to the whims of fickle Congressional funding. Federal laboratories shift staffing and scope with each new budget, and the solar industry is on a continual roller coaster constructed of constantly changing rebates and tax credits.

Second, a panel of experts will choose the projects from among dozens of sometimes far-fetched and unrealistic ideas being suggested. Though some are reluctant to allow the government to "pick winners" in private industry, we don't have time for the industry to sort itself out. It will likely be years before carbon sequestration researchers converge on a common set of ideas. Better to focus on some likely winners now.

The U.S.-Canada panel is looking at more than 20 possible projects, including burial of all the sequestered carbon. Another option is to capture carbon dioxide emissions and turn them into calcium carbonate, a building material used in cement and roads.

There are also ongoing studies on oceanic carbon sequestration - essentially pumping both carbon dioxide and iron into the sea. The iron helps create algae, which would eat the carbon. This particular technology isn't likely to make the cut for U.S.-Canada funding. It largely failed in recent tests, and has been met with intense opposition from environmentalists.

To be sure, all these carbon sequestration technologies will be immensely expensive and most environmentalists would like to see the energy industry skip straight to solar, wind and other renewable technologies. But renewable energy technologies are still several years from reaching industrial scale or competitive pricing.