More research on CCS needed

Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a study by Duke University scientists.

Storing carbon dioxide deep below Earth's surface, a process known as geosequestration, is part of a suite of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies being developed by governments and industries worldwide to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions entering Earth's atmosphere. The still-evolving technologies are designed to capture and compress CO2, emissions at their source -- typically power plants and other industrial facilities -- and transport the CO2 to locations where it can be injected far below the Earth's surface for long-term storage.

But the technology involves many hurdles besides the aspect of a chemical unit next to a power plant! Will the areas chosen hold the gas or leak it eventually? How do we handle the loss of efficiency of plants when CCS is implemented? And like this study says, water contamination is another concern.

This shows that CCS will have to be studied more in detail before it becomes a way out. The study identified four markers that scientists can use to test for early warnings of potential carbon dioxide leaks. Along with changes in carbonate concentration and acidity of the water, concentrations of manganese, iron and calcium could all be used as geochemical markers of a leak, as their concentration increase within two weeks of exposure to CO2.

For now, we have to live with CO2 in the atmosphere!! Better be sure before we open yet another Pandoras box.