How to Capture and Transport Carbon

Carbon is a natural gas that creates the greenhouse effect, which warms the earth. However, excessive amounts of Carbon Dioxide, produced by burning fossil fuels, can become trapped in the atmosphere. The largest stationary sources of CO₂ are power plants, where research efforts are focused on carbon capture systems. At this point, the process has been deemed possible, but is very costly. Here are the general steps for capturing carbon.

Step One:
Extract the carbon. The first step in the overall process is to remove the carbon from the source using post-combustion. Post-combustion is a method than can be used by conventional coal-fired power generation or combustion turbines fired by natural gas. The CO₂ is captured from flue gases which are a result of burning fossil fuel. Flue gases are a combination of CO₂, water vapor, sulfur dioxides, and nitrogen oxides. CO₂ is separated from this mixture using a filter that helps trap the CO₂ as it exits through a smokestack. This method is well-known and can be used in older power plants.

Step Two:
Transport the carbon to a storage site. Small amounts of CO₂ are currently transported using a pipeline. Usually a CO₂ pipeline begins at the power plant, where the CO₂ is captured. It travels to the storage site or to a transition point like a tanker or ship, where it is then carried to storage. CO₂ is most often transported in a gaseous state, with a compressor that forces the gas through the pipeline.

Step Three:
Store the carbon. Currently there are two places that can effectively store CO₂, underground and underwater. Underground storage (geological sequestration) allows CO₂ to behave like a liquid because of the pressure. The liquid then seeps into porous rocks or volcanic rocks below the Earth’s surface. Experts say that CO₂ can also be stored in the ocean, simply by dumping it directly into the water at a depth of at least 3500 meters. The CO₂ compresses into a slush and falls to the ocean floor. This method of storage is largely untested; it may harm marine life and could re-enter the environment.

Additional Information:
CO₂ capture has been successfully practiced for many years in the petroleum, chemical, and power industries for various reasons. However, only a small portion is being captured.

Although the successful capture of carbon is realistic, researchers must find a cost-effective way to transport and store the CO₂ before companies can move forward with capture.

Carbon capture can prevent 80-90% of a power plant’s emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Eco-Friendly Walls: Move Beyond the Potted Plant

Many environmentalists say to decorate living and working space with natural décor such as green plants. Green plants make great décor and clean the air while looking pretty. But what if you could take the potted plant one step further and decorate your walls with plants? One New York plant lover accomplished this by removing the plaster from his apartment walls, replacing it with plywood covered with cork bark.

Technically, it’s called a vertical garden, which is increasing in popularity. Some companies are jumping on the bandwagon to fill this niche and even offering ready-made and all-in-one systems to turn walls into gardens.

An Ontario company, ELT, which sells green roofs also started selling garden wall systems. Three years later, ELT is one of the biggest suppliers of these systems to the United States. Green wall sales for the company has increased by 300 percent since 2008. A few months ago, the company also introduced a smaller and less expensive wall garden system, so it expects the sales to increase even further.

Sheraton Hotel Goes Green: Saving Time and Money

As the green movement continues to sweep across the globe, it is also starting to creep into certain industries. In the hotel industry, one of the top hotel chains—the Sheraton—has started its own green movement, which pays hotel guests that decline housekeeping services.

Make a Green Choice Program

Last fall, in an effort to cut back on the hotel chain’s energy usage, Sheraton rolled out its "Make a Green Choice" campaign. The program pays hotel guests with a $5 food and drink voucher or 500 Starwood points for each day the guest declines housekeeping services in an effort to "conserve natural resources."
Starwood reports that in the first six months the program existed, more than 200,000 guests in North America participated. Starwood says this has helped its hotels to save 8.2 million gallons of water; 38,000 kilowatts of electricity; and 11,000 gallons of cleaning chemicals.

"Starwood believes the most sustainable sustainability initiatives are those that are economically viable, so there are indeed operational efficiencies driven by this program," says a Starwood representative.