by Christyl Rivers

Created on: August 25, 2010   Last Updated: September 16, 2011

Perhaps you have heard Oprah say: “When we know better, we do better.”  This is a short lesson that we all must consider. 

We can learn to reduce CO2 destruction, because now, we “know better,” about greenhouse gases, the whole cost of dirty fuels, and how too many of us mean less earth for everything else that purifies our air, cleans our water, and ensures vitality of our soil.  Can we sequester CO2 and put it to our service in these goals?

Carbon capture refers to more than one kind of process. The first question becomes, which kind of capture is to be applied?  It usually refers to capturing CO2 at an offending source, and in effect, channeling it, or converting it, into harmless or practical use.   One way is by burying the CO2, and another is by conversion to mineral carbonates, or in deep ocean storage. Collecting CO2 and storing it sounds practical, but at the scale required and the energy utilized, it becomes problematic quickly. It is not a quick fix, and it is not going to significantly reduce green house gases as a stand alone solution.

There are numerous proposals, and all fall short for present application. But, we can learn to know this, and do better.  Bio-energy generated through carbon capture and storage is sometimes called geo-engineering. It is a biological method of “scrubbing” CO2.  But carbon capture and storage, CCS, as a general term, usually is applied to non-biological operations that put much faith into our innovations being at least as efficient as nature’s ancient, tried and true purifiers: ocean life, pristine forests, and vast wild grasslands.  Most CCS scenarios have bugs to work out, and as we know from all technological leaps forward, there are unseen factors that will only show up when we are already committed.

Climate change affected by behaviors of human beings is the climate change we must concern ourselves with here.  Human beings with enlightened conservation education are the most significant source of change.  A change of heart and habit will be ultimately the only thing that can truly reverse our pollution of the atmosphere, and our reliance upon dirty fuels for energy needs. It might be said, that knowing our own carbon is shared by an entire planet, and taking action to preserve that which preserves us, is the ONLY kind of  “carbon capture”, that can have long term, sustainable results.

Capture the

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