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Carbon Sequestration
• Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an approach to
mitigating global warming by capturing carbon dioxide
(CO2) from large point sources such as power plants and
subsequently storing it instead of releasing it into the
atmosphere. Technology for capturing of CO2 is already
commercially available for large CO2 emitters, such as
power plants; however, capture is meaningless without
storage.
Worldwide large stationary
sources of CO2
CO2 storage
In terms of quantity of
carbon stored, tropical and
boreal forests are visibly
outstanding. The values for
carbon storage in
vegetation in the tropics
reach a maximum of 250
metric tons per hectare.
Temperate forests and tropical savannas store less than the tropical
and boreal forests. Non-woody grasslands and drylands store less
than the forested areas, and sparsely vegetated and bare desert
areas have the least carbon storage potential.
Capturing carbon dioxide from small, mobile sources, such as cars,
would be more difficult. But with power plants comprising 40 percent
of the world's fossil fuel-derived carbon emissions, the potential for
reductions is significant.
Estimates of worldwide storage capacity range from 2 trillion to 10
trillion tons of carbon dioxide, according to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its report on carbon capture and
storage. Global emissions in 2004 totaled 27 billion tons, according
to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information
Administration.
If all human-induced emissions were sequestered, enough capacity
would exist to accommodate more than 100 years' worth of
emissions, - IPCC.
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