There might be a new "best" method to combat global warming -- forcing carbon dioxide emitted from coal -- burning power plants underground.
U researcher Brian McPherson said the process, called carbon sequestration, is the quickest and most effective way to lower greenhouse gas emissions known to cause global climate change in a short amount of time.
McPherson leads a team of researchers testing the technique near Price, Utah.
Over four years, the team will take carbon dioxide from coal-bed methane and power plants, capture it and pump it into a well 5,000 feet underground. It will take nearly four years to pump one million tons of gas, which is pressurized into a near liquid state, below the surface.
The researchers will then spend six years monitoring the fate of the carbon dioxide.
Despite the quantity of pressurized air being pushed underground, McPherson said it is unlikely that carbon dioxide could escape from the well.
Without having reviewed McPherson's plans for carbon sequestration in Utah, U meteorology professor Thomas Reichler questioned whether the method would use too much electricity in the process.
"How much energy you need to put carbon dioxide back into the ground is a very important factor," he said. "Utah is a state that produces more energy than (it uses)."
McPherson, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at the U, said the process would only be effective in newer plants.
He said that a new coal plant, which "gassifies" the coal instead of burning it, would see a 20 percent increase in electricity costs associated with carbon sequestration, and older power plants would face a 60 percent increase.
"People won't stand for a 60 percent increase, but 10 to 20 percent wouldn't be too far from the yearly rise in electricity anyway," McPherson said.
Growing concerns about the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted from power plants and car exhaust has convinced government officials to find ways of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide expelled into the atmosphere.
Gov. Jon Huntsman praised the project as one of many tests being done throughout the Western states to lessen emissions.
"I think people in this state are fed up with the lack of air quality," Huntsman said during a press conference on Friday.
McPherson was hired by the U through the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative, which supports the work that McPherson will carry out. The legislative initiative provided money for the U and Utah State University to hire leading science researchers to develop new technologies and stimulate the Utah economy.
The project could also have an impact internationally, and the Indian government is interested in McPherson and his work in pushing carbon dioxide underground, Huntsman said.
McPherson completed his research project as a master's student working on geothermal systems at Escalante and his doctoral work in the Uinta basin. After working as an assistant professor at the University of Mexico, the U hired McPherson.
l.groves@chronicle.utah.edu
