RECS: Putting the ‘Safe’ in Safe CO2 Storage

This week, we’ll be attending the Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS) – a 10-day program that advances scientific research and professional training in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

When we talk about the coal-based generating sector’s commitment to clean, we often refer to the eventual capture and safe storage of carbon dioxide (CO2).

This week at RECS, Dr. Klaus Lackner talked about how to ensure that the CO2 stays in the ground in a safe manner.

Dr. Lackner, the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, talked about the best way to monitor underground CO2 injection, including the advantages of using C-14 tagging, which involves a harmless carbon isotope.

Adding one microgram of C-14 to every ton of CO2 would be a safe way of alerting detectors that the carbon present at the storage site is the very same carbon that was injected in the CCS process.

When it comes to the safe storage of CO2, Dr. Lackner says it’s important to get it right.

In the video below, Dr. Lackner explains his work at Columbia University: