Videocrux - North Pole 'carbon storage' experiment

#Videocrux - North Pole 'carbon storage' experiment North Pole 'carbon storage' experiment
Scientists on Svalbard near the North Pole are drilling one kilometer into the ground where they hope to store carbon dioxide, given off by a coal-fired power station. The project is part of a new wave of technology designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming.
Norway only thermal station to go eco-friendly
A thin wisp of smoke escapes from Norway's one and only coal-fired power station. Most of the country is powered by renewable hydro-electric energy. That's not possible here on the island of Svalbard high in the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can drop as low as minus 50. But burning coal gives off carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Scientists in this hut think they may have an answer. They're drilling through one kilometre of rock to a layer of porous sandstone where they hope to bury the carbon dioxide for the next 10,000 years.
CO2 stored underground to control climate change
Carbon capture and storage is touted as one of the solutions to climate change. But no one really knows what will happen when liquefied carbon dioxide is pumped underground. This site will monitor the CO2 reservoir for a decade to make sure the technology is really long-lasting.
Need to reduce emissions in other ways
With China and India together opening one new coal-fired power station every week, the technology can't come quickly enough.Lars Haltbrekken, Chairman, Friends of the Earth Norway "Carbon storage is a necessary thing to do, but it will not deliver huge reductions before 2020, 2030. So we need to start reducing the emissions in other ways right now."
Technology to be implemented by 2012
This project won't be up and running until at least 2012, after the power station is equipped with carbon capture technology. It's expensive but with glaciers on Svalbard retreating with every passing year, scientists here know that if we do nothing, it's the environment that will pay.

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