Geological sequestration is a key resource area in the fight against global warming. Its techniques were originally developed for Enhanced Oil Recovery procedures in which carbon dioxide from power stations is pumped into exhausted oil wells to help extract residual pockets of otherwise irrecoverable oil. Most of the recent rise in CO2 in the atmosphere comes from man’s ‘burning’ of oil and other geologically sourced fossil fuels like coal and gas. An effective way of mitigating against global warming, is therefore to use C-Questor’s technologies to return the GHG’s produced by the burning of these fossil fuels into geological cavities that have been created in disused coal mines, depleted oil wells and exhausted gas fields, from which the fossil fuels originated in the first place.

The measuring of the effectiveness of sequestration techniques is important, as is the monitoring of GHG emission levels. These tasks can be performed from earth resources satellites that are able to determine the total concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere at any point around the world or measure the specific emissions of the different GHGs including Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Methane, Sulphur Hexafluoride, Hydrofluorocarbons and PFC’s given off by any specific power plant, cement factory, industrial complex or even towns, fields, forests or countries using C-Questor’s Satmap  monitoring techniques.

Geological Carbon Sequestration
Geological Carbon Sequestration can take a number of forms. In most cases, it is necessary first to separate and pressurise the CO2 found either in Flue Gasses, or in the emissions from for example cement manufacture. Generally these form up to around 15% of the gas by partial pressure. An exception occurs when combustion takes place in a pure oxygen atmosphere, in which CO2 will form a much higher percentage of the flue gas. This separation and compression process takes energy, which adds to the fuel consumption and cost of the process

‘Sequestering emissions of CO2 in building materials, geological formations, former fossil fuel reservoirs, and in the deep ocean is potentially one of the most cost effective ways to mitigate climate change’

In an ideal world, this CO2 would be collected, and used to make something useful so offsetting the cost of collection and avoiding the emissions which would otherwise occur during conventional manufacture of the product. This is precisely what we intend to do with our Carbocrete building materials program. Where this is not possible, we will pump the CO2 through pipelines into rock formations, depleted fossil fuel facilities, or into the deep ocean where it will form solid ice like clatherates. Given careful site selection, the CO2 so sequestered will be kept out of the atmosphere for geological time.

Geological Heat and Power
Many countries use high pressure steam generated by radioactive decay deep in the Earth’s crust to provide heat or generate power. Up to this point, geothermal power has received very little investment compared to other energy sources, in spite of this, geothermal has huge potential. Unlike other renewable technologies, geothermal is always available which makes it ideal for baseline power generation. Globally, there are thought to be a huge number of as yet undiscovered locations where it is possible to drill for steam which can directly turn an electricity turbine, or at least for hot water which can either be used in a binary cycle using refrigerant gas for generating electricity, or for supplying domestic heat and hot water using a district heating system.

The third and least developed technology is that of hot dry rocks. It is possible to drill anywhere in the Earth’s crust, and if you drill deep enough, you will find hot rock. If technologies can be developed for low cost deep drilling, and to open up cracks in the rock to form heat exchangers, then injecting and recovering water in the form of steam will make possible geothermal power generation at almost any location.