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| Titel |
Engineering challenges of ocean alkalinity enhancement |
| VerfasserIn |
T. Kruger, P. Renforth |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250066260
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The addition of calcium oxide (CaO) to the ocean as a means of enhancing the capacity of the ocean as a carbon sink was first proposed by Haroon Kheshgi in 1995. Calcium oxide is created by heating high purity limestone in a kiln to temperatures of approximately 1000°C. Addition of this material to the ocean draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (approximately 1 tonne of CaO could sequester 1.3 tonnes of CO2). Abiotic carbonate precipitation is inhibited in the surface ocean. This is a carbon and energy expensive process, where approximately 0.8 tonnes of CO2 are produced at a point source for every tonne sequestered. The feasibility of ocean alkalinity enhancement requires capture and storage of the point source of CO2.
We present details of a feasibility study of the engineering challenges of Kheshgi’s method focusing on the potential scalability and costs of the proposed process. To draw down a PgC per year would require the extraction and processing of ~6Pg of limestone per year, which is similar in scale to the current coal industry. Costs are estimated at ~USD30-40 per tonne of CO2 sequestered through the process, which is favourable to comparative processes.
Kheshgi, H. (1995) Energy 20 (9) 915-922 |
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