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Environmental science

Clean coal and sparkling water

Nature volume 458, pages 583–584 (2009)Cite this article

Subsurface storage of carbon dioxide is a major option for mitigating climate change. On one account, much of the gas sequestered in this way would end up as carbonic acid in the pore waters of the host rock.

Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, continue to rise at an alarming rate. We seem unable to tame our appetite for fossil fuels on a meaningful timescale, and the concept of carbon capture and storage has emerged as a serious option for reducing CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. A 'clean coal' technology, in which CO2 is collected from coal-fired power plants and stored safely below ground, might enable us to continue using this comparatively cheap and abundant energy source without climatic worries.

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Figure 1: Bubbling up.

W. AESCHBACH-HERTIG

References

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  1. Werner Aeschbach-Hertig is at the Institut für Umweltphysik, Universität Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. aeschbach@iup.uni-heidelberg.de ,

    Werner Aeschbach-Hertig

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  1. Werner Aeschbach-Hertig
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Aeschbach-Hertig, W. Clean coal and sparkling water. Nature 458, 583–584 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458583a

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