| Sourced From |
On its face, carbon capture doesnt sound particularly complicated: Collect the carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and other coal-burning industries and pump it deep underground where it cant cause global warming.
But that simplicity belies a host of questions: Who owns the space underground where the carbon will go? What happens if the carbon affects someones groundwater or minerals? Who will be responsible for the carbon years from now?
Lawmakers at the 2009 Montana Legislature are poised to bite off at least some of those issues mainly, Sen.-elect Ron Erickson, D-Missoula.
Answering those questions is important, Erickson says, because carbon sequestration likely wont happen in Montana unless the state defines how carbon capture will work.
Already, Montana trails Wyoming in gearing up for carbon sequestration. Erickson, a retired University of Montana environmental studies professor, wants to make carbon capture not only possible here, but also required for some industries to help deal with global warming.
Carbon dioxide is released when fossil fuels, like coal or oil, are burned. A build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes global warming.
Erickson is sponsoring Senate Bill 66, which revisits a successful 2007 effort instructing the states Board of Environmental Review to set rules governing sequestration. The updated version also states that
Related posts: