The DECARBit project is an investigation paid for by the European Union to study carbon capture technologies during the precombustion process of coal and gas. Norway is also part of the project, via SINTEF (Norway does not belong to the EU).
As we should always do with "breakthrough technologies," let's take this with a pinch of salt. A Spanish company named Movigi Spain Air Filter claims that they have developed a sort of artificial tree that is able to capture CO2 from the atmosphere by means of synthetic photosynthesis. We should say that the company, which worked with scientists from the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló in Spain, claims to have developed the large device that
Carbon capture is a dream for oil companies and other polluting industries. It goes like this: power plants that are able to capture more than 80 percent of CO2, carbon pipes that take liquified CO2 down to old oil wells, and also mass producing hydrogen. Something that will allow the world to lick the last drops of oil, coal and gas guilt-free. Spanish newspaper El País has published a very interesting article on the possibilities of this technology, which
Carbon capture is here and the EU is trying hard to push it forward. In an article published by economy newspaper Cinco Días, it's explained that the big problem is overcoming the high costs associated with the process. It's estimated that reducing 80 to 90 percent of the CO2 emissions from a power plant increases the price of energy 35 to 85 percent. Experts mentioned by the newspaper state that a reasonable target for 2020 is making carbon capture affordable at 20 to 30 EUR per ton.
Terra preta is a very interesting type of soil that you can find in the Amazon, and is supposedly manmade. Although it's unknown how it was made before the Europeans arrived, there's a modern method to obtain it: burn biomass so it's pyrolisized, breaking down long hydrocarbon chains like cellulose into shorter, simpler molecules which, over time, become nutrients for microbes and plants, that bond with nitrogen and phosphorus.
Sometimes you have to step away from the daily updates and take a peek at the larger "domestic and global fuels supply situation.' If you're the DOE Task Force on Strategic Unconventional Fuel that just released a three-volume report on exactly that matter, you'll discover that the "outlook is urgent." The good news is that efficiency gains and other "alternatives" wil
Presidential hopeful John McCain went to car-maker-city Detroit and told them they must support higher fuel efficiency standards. John says it's a national security issue and we must be leaders on green technology. John even joked he drinks a glass of ethanol every day. Here are some quotes:
The United States government is in the early stages of crafting the nation's first carbon cap-and-trade law. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a white paper detailing the scope of the carbon law and one thing is already very clear: drivers won't be regulated directly because there are just too many of us! You can read the entire 22 page white page pdf here. Transportation is discussed on page 13 of the white paper. Here is exactly
When speaking about carbon offsetting and capturing, it's necessary to know how much the trees that are being assigned to capture that carbon actually, you know, capture. We already know how some Mediterranian species can handle CO2 but there are a lot more types of trees around the world.
In 2009, Europe will have a CO2 capture plant in the Northwest of Spain, in the coal mining region of El Bierzo.
In conjunction with the kick off of Volkswagen's Dieselution tour, the assembled media got an opportunity to take a brief drive in one of the Jetta diesels. The prototype Jetta sedan that was on hand had the latest 2.0L CleanTDI engine mated up to a six-speed DSG gearbox. DSG is Volkwagen's branding for the dual-clutch gearbox that has been available in the GTI, R32 and Audi TT previously.
Today is the launch day for Carbon Catalog, an independent website directory that means to centralize information on carbon offset projects and providers. If you're looking for a nearby carbon offset company, Carbon Catalog's simple interface will quickly be able to tell you what's available. It's also good for finding far-flung operations. Did you know, for example, about Islands of Llight, a project to install highly efficient compact fluorescent lam
Seminole Electric Cooperative, based in Tampa, FL, announced plans to solicit proposals for a CO2 capture demonstration project at its proposed Seminole Generating Station (SGS) Unit 3 facility. The power plant will be the first in the state to have a carbon capture device attached to it, and it's planned to generate 750 MW of power and will be built along two other plants SGS has that generate 650 MW each.
Three friends from North Wales were trying to come up with a way to use carbon dioxide to help grow algae to feed a fish farm and may have stumbled across a breakthrough that could clean up greenhouse gas emissions. There has been a lot of discussion recently about carbon sequestration but these three guys from Wales may have developed a way to capture CO2 on board vehicles.
As we noted back in April, China was due to pass the United States in amount of CO2 emitted earlier than the previously-expected 2010 date. As our sister site travel blog Gadling noted the other day, that unfortunate mark has come to pass. What an unwinnable race.
There is a new book on the shelves in Great Britain called "How to Live a Low Carbon Life" by Chris Goodall. Of course there is a chapter on choosing automobiles but that is only part of an LCF (Low Carbon Life). My wife and I have already started living it doing the obvious things. Our house is a lot darker than it used to be and we ventilate rather than air condition our rooms. It works!
Robert Reich, Labor Secretary under President Clinton currently teaching at the University of California Berkeley, thinks the 2008 presidential candidates should be in favor of a carbon auction as a way to clean up the atmosphere and win votes, as he recently said on Marketplace.
