Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumCarbon storage 'may cause small earthquakes'
Source: The Guardian
Carbon storage 'may cause small earthquakes'
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012 18.00 BST
Capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground could give rise to small earthquakes, according to a new report from the US National Research Council.
But the authors said there was too little research to be firm on the findings, and called for more work to be done.
The report examined sites where hydraulic fracturing the practice of blasting dense rocks apart with water, sand and chemicals in order to release tiny bubbles of natural gas trapped within them had been used. The authors found that fracking in itself carries only a low risk of causing earthquakes of sufficient magnitude to be felt by people.
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However, the US report did find evidence that where wastewater was injected underground as a by-product of fracking a procedure not used in the UK earthquakes could occur. It is not clear why injecting wastewater underground carries a higher risk of seismic activity than fracking in itself. But the finding has clear implications for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, because that process would also require the injection of large volumes of gas or liquid in the case of CCS, carbon dioxide under high pressure.
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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/15/underground-carbon-storage-small-earthquakes
Ian David
(69,059 posts)My plan is to grow fields of bamboo, but the stalks into manageable lengths, and then bury them in abandoned mines.
FogerRox
(13,211 posts)No R&D needed.
FogerRox
(13,211 posts)It is not clear why injecting wastewater underground carries a higher risk of seismic activity than fracking in itself.
Its quite clear, fracking occurs in shale layers that do not transmit seismic activity very well, certainly not beyond the shale layer.