[Terrapreta] Another promising carbon capture technique

[jim mason]

this is very interesting, but a sky high view on the availability of
materials with which to do it suggests it is not going provide much
leverage.  to be able to run the carbonation process, you need calcium
or calcium oxide that can be further combined with co2.  the amount of
either in ash varies by what you are burning, but ash itself is
usually in the single digit percentages of input fuel.  maybe you can
make silicacarbonates and potasium carbonates too with the ash, i need
to review the chemistry here (and apologies for potential term errors
above), but the limiting factor remains the availability of ash, and
ash being a small part of most fuels.  raw carbon conveted to char can
be many multiples above this.

couldn't one also just add the ash to a cement plant?  calcining
limestone with heat to get the co2 out is the opposite of the proposed
process.

or relatedly, isn't the proposed process just an accounting
manipulation?  the free ca and cao in the ash is going to react anyway
with co2 if left out exposed to the atmosphere.  it just isn't
reabsorbing the co2 in the flue gases so it is more difficult to take
the carbon credit.

therefore i think i'm a bit unimpressed.   but it is still a welcome
addition as now we have 3 contending main routes for carbon
sequestration, and each one can introduce a person to the potential
for scrubbing c from the atmosphere and sequesting it so it is
rendered unavailable to the ongoing carbon cycle.

well, 4 with algae feeding in the oceans to bloom their populations
(as about 50% of co2 respiration on the planet is oceanic algae).

and 5?  someone must be proposing the spiking of shell or bone dense
critter populations to fix co2 in caco3.  what scenarios are out there
for this on the biological side?

jim







On Jan 30, 2008 3:36 PM, David Yarrow <dyarrow at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> this is very cool.  i was just today telling doug clayton that nature's
> other principal pathway to capture carbon from the air is to convert it into
> carbonate.  a major chunk of this is making shells for exoskeletal organisms
> ranging from microbes in the sea (including coral) to mollusks and
> crustaceans and on up into bones of large animals.  a lot of carbon is
> concerting to shells of sea creatures, which then die and form sediments on
> the sea floor, which become fossilized as limestone.  i told doug to look
> out for a technology to capture carbon as carbonates.
>
> and a few hours later, here it is, apparently.  and it's exothermic to boot.
>
> the question now is how to commercialize this process and deploy it
> widespread.  and can it make money, as in' turn a profit?
>
> for a green & peaceful planet,
> David Yarrow
> 44 Gilligan Rd, E Greenbush, NY 12061
> www.championtrees.org
> www.OnondagaLakePeaceFestival.org
> www.farmandfood.org
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Green Waste Recycle Yard" <info at GreenWasteRecycleYard.com>
> To: <terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 4:01 PM
> Subject: [Terrapreta] Another promising carbon capture technique
>
>
> > This is very smart and cool. Could go hand in hand with pyrolysis plants,
> > and most certainly should be applied to existing cogen plants.
> >
> > Here is a movie with a benchtop demonstration of the concept:
> >
> > http://www.c8s.co.uk/carbon8.mov
> >
> > Being exothermic, there is also the potential for capturing the process
> > heat
> > as well.
> >
> > Bernie
> > ________________________________
> >
> > Tuesday, January 29, 2008
> > Carbon-negative energy revolution a step closer: Carbon8 Systems to
> > capture
> > CO2 from biomass through carbonation
> > http://biopact.com/2008/01/carbon-negative-energy-revolution-step.html
> > By Biopact team(Biopact team)
> >
> > The bioenergy community is excited about a new start-up that could play a
> > key role in the mass introduction of carbon-negative bioenergy systems.
> > Scientists from the University of Greenwhich who formed Carbon8 Systems
> > have
> > developed a technique that allows power producers to capture CO2 simply by
> > turning it into limestone via a carbonation process. If the system is
> > applied to biomass power plants instead of coal plants, the company says,
> > 'negative emissions' are obtained. Negative emissions from energy means
> > that
> > CO2 is pulled out of the atmosphere. What is more, for tropical and
> > subtropical countries that lack large limestone deposits - a key soil
> > amendment to make acidic soils more productive - the process could result
> > in
> > an extremely important synergy that allows farmers to boost (energy) crop
> > yields.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Terrapreta mailing list
> > Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> > http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> > http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
> > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jim mason
website: www.whatiamupto.com
current project: mechabolic (http://www.mechabolic.org)
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