Tag: risks

Storing carbon dioxide underground may be a safe solution to mitigate climate change, according to new study

on Phys.org, January 31, 2023

“A study led by the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA) and the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA CSIC-UIB), both belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has shown that injecting billions of tons of atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide) underground has a low risk of leakage back to the surface.”

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Sovacool et al. (2022): Risk–risk governance in a low-carbon future: Exploring institutional, technological, and behavioral tradeoffs in climate geoengineering pathways

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Chad M. Baum, Sean Low IN: Risk Analysis, https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13932

In this study, the authors utilize a large and novel set of qualitative expert interview data to more deeply and systematically explore the types of risk–risk tradeoffs that may emerge from the use of 20 different climate geoengineering options, 10 that focus on carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas removal, and 10 that focus on solar radiation management and reflecting sunlight.

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Rabitz et al. (2022): A preliminary framework for understanding the governance of novel environmental technologies: Ambiguity, indeterminateness and drift

Florian Rabitz, Marian Feist, Matthias Honegger, Joshua Horton, Sikina Jinnah, Jesse Reynolds IN: Earth System Governance, Volume 12, 100134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2022.100134.

The authors propose a conceptual framework to explain why some technologies are more difficult to govern than others in global environmental governance. They start from the observation that some technologies pose transboundary environmental risks, some provide capacities for managing such risks, and some do both.

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D’Aniello, Andrea et al. (2021): Modeling Gaseous CO2 Flow Behavior in Layered Basalts: Dimensional Analysis and Aquifer Response

Andrea D’Aniello, Sigrún Tómasdóttir, Bergur Sigfússon, Massimiliano Fabbricino IN: Groundwater 59 (5), p. 677-693; https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13090

Particular attention is paid to the risk of carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage in geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) operations, as it might lead to the failure of sequestration efforts and to the contamination of underground sources of drinking water. As carbon dioxide would eventually reach shallower formations under its gaseous state, understanding its multiphase flow behavior is essential. To this aim, a hypothetical gaseous leak of carbon dioxide resulting from a well integrity failure of the GCS system in operation at Hellisheiði (CarbFix2) is here modeled.

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DER SPIEGEL – Cover story: How do we stop it? The planet is collapsing (in German)

Nr. 44 / 29.10.2021

In this issue, the very well-known German weekly magazine DER SPIEGEL deals with various articles (three cover stories alone) on the subject of man-made climate change and the paradox of the climate policy of strong exploiting raw materials. For the cover stories, a team led by editor Alexander Jung talked to mine operators and car managers, geologists and ecologists around the world, looking for ways out of the dilemma.

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Yale Climate Connections: What is geoengineering? … and why it’s a ‘break glass’ plan

“Everyday wisdom tells us it’s much better to avoid a problem than to try to fix it afterward. That’s one reason cutting greenhouse emissions is by far the preferred option for limiting climate change. Yet society has dragged its collective heels on climate action for decades, and it’s unclear whether the world will achieve the roughly 50% emission cuts this decade that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) deems essential to avert the worst consequences of a human-warmed planet. Enter the notion of geoengineering. Often referred to as “climate intervention” or “climate-altering technologies,” geoengineering refers to the idea of messing with the climate system that humans have already been messing up – this time in an effort to turn back the clock and restabilize the climate.”

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Call for Papers: Frontiers: Research Topic: Harmonizing Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) guidelines

Deadline: 31. October 2021

“The Global CO2 Initiative convened a series of workshops and established the International CCU Assessment Harmonization Group in partnership with the following organizations. The group promotes research, development, and commercialization of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies requires assessing the environmental and economic opportunities and risks. Life cycle assessments and techno-economic assessments are means to quantify these opportunities and risks. For consistent conduct and transparent reporting, a common framework is needed. The mission of the International CCU Assessment Harmonization Group is to create this common framework. We are bringing together related efforts, analyze differences and seek to eliminate them where possible.”

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Politico: The perils of making rules for climate manipulation

“If humanity decides to tinker with Earth’s thermostat, there are going to have to be some rules on how to control the dial. Many ideas for technologies to combat global warming by intervening in planetary systems — sometimes called geoengineering — are still in the research phase. But with climate change already taking hold, some could end up getting used.”

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