Scientists at the Technical University of Berlin are looking for ways
storing the gas CO2 greenhouse in rocks. When fossil fuels have definitely disappeared from the earth, we can use the gas stores as a source of carbon dioxide.
From 2005 under the Kyoto Protocol and the protection
climate, emission of CO2 must be reduced by 25% over
1990.
Almost 10000 European installations are affected by these measures, including 2500 in Germany. This concerns primarily electricity suppliers, but also refineries, coking plants,
steel industries as well as major energy consumers.
Germany is by far the largest producer of CO2 in Europe. In order to
reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, it was thought to store
direct greenhouse gas underground.
The teacher. Wilhelm Dominik of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Technical University (TU) Berlin studies suitable storage techniques in this regard and draws his inspiration, among other things, from traditional natural gas storage. And unlike natural gas, carbon dioxide is neither flammable nor explosive and can be transported safely using pipelines or tankers. When stored at great depth - optimally between 700 and 1200 meters - the gas becomes liquid and in the appropriate geological structures it does not escape.
Porous rocks, ideally the sandstone or limestone are most appropriate for the geological storage. The old cavities of gas or oil are another option for storing CO2 in the rock.
Immersion in the sea, which is the only natural storage place for CO2, is still refused today due to environmental constraints.
Mr. Dominik's team analyzes the properties of rocks in the laboratory and
simulates the interaction with the liquid phase. The geometry of structures
of appropriate rocks is reconstructed on the basis of seismic data, and
3-D representations are created with the help of mathematicians from the
TU to simulate and visualize flow processes.
contacts:
- Teacher. Dr. Wilhelm Dominik - Fakultat VI Bauingenieurwesen und Angewandte
Geowissenschaften - tel: +49 (0) 30 314 25903 - E-mail:
wilhelm.dominik@tu-berlin.de -
http://www.tu-berlin.de/presse/pi/2004/pi269.htm
Sources: Depeche IDW, Press release from TU Berlin, 25 / 10 / 2004
Editor: Nicolas Condette, nicolas.condette@diplomatie.gouv.fr