clair031

Summary .   The world is burning fossil fuels at an ever-increasing rate, resulting in increased release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.   This results in an increase in the long-term globally averaged temperature.   Consequently there is great interest in developing carbon capture and storage in geological repositories to help abate the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Zoback and Gorelick have just published a paper that a) emphasizes the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that need to be captured and stored, and b) analyzes in detail the likelihood that small-scale earthquakes may be induced at the injection sites because of the increased fluids introduced into the storage sites.   Their concern is that even small to medium scale earthquakes may destroy the integrity of the sites, leading to significant leakage of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.   They conclude that extensive deployment of carbon storage involves conside...

I've created a video entitled Our Invisible Energy , in the format of a pictorial tutorial, which expands on the ideas expressed in this post .  The video makes the point that most of our uses of energy in our daily lives are second nature, so that we don't think much about them.  Nevertheless, the energy in question is mostly obtained from burning fossil fuels, thereby releasing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Please have a look! This video is the first in a series that also includes           Light and Heat - The Greenhouse Effect   and           Fossil Fuels and Global Warming   © 2012 Henry Auer

Summary . Institutions in the private sector are actively implementing renewable energy projects that optimize energy efficiency, install local renewable energy facilities, and/or purchase energy that has been generated by renewable technologies.   Motivations for undertaking these projects include economizing on costs, reducing overall energy usage, and reducing fossil fuel use and emission of greenhouse gases. In order to encourage these private sector activities, the U. S. federal government should maintain and expand subsidy support for renewable energy.   At the present time this support is contracting radically as the result of expiration of several short-term subsidy programs.   Respected authorities suggest expanding subsidy programs by three-fold, together with tailoring of subsidy programs to optimize effectiveness by, for example, stimulating strong competition and enhancing public-private consortia for deployment of renewable energy. Introduction. Carbon ...