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Not under our backyard, say Germans, in blow to CO2 plans
The Guardian ^ | 29 July 2009 | Terry Slavin and Alok Jha

Posted on 08/10/2009 10:14:57 AM PDT by neverdem

German carbon capture plan appears to be a victim of 'numbyism' - not under my backyard

It was meant to be the world's first demonstration of a technology that could help save the planet from global warming – a project intended to capture emissions from a coal-fired power station and bury them safely underground.

But the German carbon capture plan has ended with CO2 being pumped directly into the atmosphere, following local opposition at it being stored underground.

The scheme appears a victim of "numbyism" – not under my backyard.

Opposition to the carbon capture plan has contributed to a growing public backlash against renewable energy projects, raising fears that Europe will struggle to meet its low-carbon commitments. Last week, the Danish firm Vestas blamed British "nimbies" opposing wind farms for its decision to close its turbine factory on the Isle of Wight.

Many countries continue to use coal for generating power as it is the cheapest and most readily available fuel in the world. It will probably power the development of China and India. But coal is also seen as the dirtiest fuel. So, Vattenfall's Schwarze Pumpe project in Spremberg, northern Germany, launched in a blaze of publicity last September, was a beacon of hope, the first scheme to link the three key stages of trapping, transporting and burying the greenhouse gases.

The Swedish company, however, surprised a recent conference when it admitted that the €70m (£60.3m) project was venting...

--snip--

Stuart Haszeldine, a CCS expert at the University of Edinburgh, warned of the danger of opposition towards CCS snowballing into a "bandwagon of negativity" if too many early projects were rejected. "Once you've screwed up one or two of them, people are going to think 'if they rejected this in Barendrecht, there must be a reason'," he said...

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Germany; Politics/Elections; Technical
KEYWORDS: agw; ccs; climatechange; globalwarming; nimby; numby
It's probably good that CCS is being opposed. It's probably bad that it's for the wrong reason, i.e. any climate change is most likely due to natural phenomena, not human generated carbon dioxide emissions. However, due to the huge costs involved, I'll take what I can get.
1 posted on 08/10/2009 10:14:58 AM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem
It was liquid and not gas, but disposal of waste under the old Rocky Mountain Arsenal a few decades ago led to man-caused earthquakes that were felt here. I wouldn't want anyone to start injecting CO2 until I got a pretty clear explanation that the consequences were understood.
2 posted on 08/10/2009 10:28:12 AM PDT by colorado tanker ("I don't want to be hearing from those people. Ein volk!")
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To: neverdem

Tee-hee-hee! Serves ‘em right for signing up to Kyoto! My only regret is so did New Zealand...

Maybe we can find a brilliant way out of it yet!


3 posted on 08/10/2009 10:28:12 AM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: neverdem

I read the whole article and couldn’t find any explanation of what the opponents are objecting to. This seems like a pretty innocuous project, although arguably a waste of money.


4 posted on 08/10/2009 10:32:11 AM PDT by Sherman Logan ("The price of freedom is the toleration of imperfections." Thomas Sowell)
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To: neverdem

They have to permanently remove two oxygen atoms from the atmosphere to sequester one carbon atom from the fuel. That’s a really bad deal. It won’t be long before lab instruments start measuring falling O2 levels.


5 posted on 08/10/2009 10:44:16 AM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: neverdem
The warmies have screwed themselves on this one. By calling CO2 a "pollutant" (which it isn't -- all life on Earth is totally dependent on CO2), they have caused the "volk" to fear it near their homes.
6 posted on 08/10/2009 12:06:03 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: neverdem

What complete IDIOTS! What’s next, whipping the ocean?


7 posted on 08/10/2009 12:12:24 PM PDT by MrDem (From Morning in America to Mourning in America...)
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To: neverdem; Delacon; Entrepreneur; Defendingliberty; WL-law; Genesis defender; proud_yank; ...
 


Beam me to Planet Gore !

8 posted on 08/10/2009 1:24:27 PM PDT by steelyourfaith ("The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" - Lady Thatcher)
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To: neverdem
Can't wait for all the new trees and their CO2 absorbing beauty.


9 posted on 08/11/2009 2:31:03 AM PDT by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: expatpat
The warmies have screwed themselves on this one. By calling CO2 a "pollutant" (which it isn't -- all life on Earth is totally dependent on CO2), they have caused the "volk" to fear it near their homes.

Hey if CO is bad then CO2 has to be twice as bad, right?

10 posted on 08/11/2009 2:39:55 AM PDT by this_ol_patriot (I saw manbearpig and all I got was this lousy tagline.)
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To: neverdem

“Carbon Dioxide is a powerful cerebral dilator. At concentrations between 2 and 10%, Carbon Dioxide can cause nausea, dizziness, headache, mental confusion, increased blood pressure and respiratory rate. Above 8% nausea and vomiting appear. Above 10%, suffocation and death can occur within minutes. “

From: http://www.uigi.com/MSDS_gaseous_CO2.html


Fortunately, CO2 is only 300-400 ppm in the atmosphere. At that concentration, it is harmless to humans. And of course, it is essential to plants and therefore to all life on earth.


11 posted on 08/11/2009 3:07:29 AM PDT by Rocky (OBAMA: Succeeding where bin Laden failed.)
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To: neverdem

The party’s over
It’s time to call it a day
They’ve burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It’s time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid


12 posted on 08/11/2009 4:09:15 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . fasl el-khitab)
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