Greenpeace opposed to burying CO2 under the seabed
Is ‘CO2 Capture and Storage‘ the answer to beating global warming?
The Norwegian Sleipner gas platform in the North Sea has been successfully burying CO2 under the seabed for the past 12 years in a pioneering project.
The Gas group, StatoilHydro undertook the project for financial reasons: the company could save money on carbon tax by ‘injecting’ CO2 rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.
CSS technology is however, still being debated amoung environmentalists.
Greenpeace published a report earlier in May entitled, ‘False hope. Why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate.’
Greenpeace‘s arguement
- an efficient and affordable version of the technology will not be ready in time to contribute to the global CO2 emissions reductions the UN – based International Panel on Climate Change says must start by 2015 in order to limit global warming to a two-degree increase.
- the method consumes alot of energy in itself
- the method is expensive
- there will always be the risk of leaks
Greenpeace considers the research on CSS as a waste of limited scientific and financial resources and says it would prefer to see more focus on energy efficiency and renewable energies.
“The real solutions to stopping dangerous climate change lie in renewable energy and energy efficiency that can start protecting the climate today,” it wrote in its report.
Shawn Schuster, a blogger for Green Daily, agrees with Greenpeace.
“Locking away our toxicity hasn’t worked for us before…it only postpones the harmfulness for our future generations.
“That’s certainly not saving the earth. “
Sources: Yahoo News , Greenpeace and Green Daily blog by Shawn Schuster
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