Feb 10 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Brian Maffly The Salt Lake Tribune



No one knows whether injecting carbon dioxide underground will fix global climate change, but Brian McPherson is determined to discover if it's technologically feasible at test sites in central Utah.

And if carbon sequestration is possible, another big question is whether it will make any difference in reversing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

"It's a nuanced answer. It's not yes, it's not no, it's both. Whether carbon science is a 'conspiracy,' sequestration is worth discussing," said McPherson, a geophysicist and professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Utah.

He addresses these questions Thursday night as part of the Utah Museum of Natural History's Nature of Things lecture series. McPherson came to the university in 2006 under the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative or USTAR.

 McPherson is leading a six-state Department of Energy-funded research project to learn what happens when 3 million tons of carbon dioxide is injected into Navajo sandstone formation. Heat-trapping C02 emissions, which industrial societies produce in vast quantities when fossil fuels are burned, are a leading culprit in global warming and ocean acidification, scientists say.

The idea behind sequestration is to capture carbon emissions at power plants, which typically emit 1 million tons annually, and divert it underground into geologic formations for permanent storage.

"Carbon

sequestration is not the solution, but it must be evaluated as an option," McPherson said. "Regardless of what the Legislature says, we're testing it. "

Utah lawmakers are attacking the rationale for the kind of investigation McPherson and others are conducting. A resolution advanced out of a House committee last week denounced climate science as the doctored product of a "conspiracy" to justify population control, a view not held by mainstream science. Meanwhile, the federal government is investing in ways to keep carbon out of the atmosphere and developing alternatives to coal.

Carbon capture and injection are being studied at about 150 sites around the nation, but the central Utah test site west of Price is the subject of a $67 million research project led by McPherson. Injection wells are to be drilled near Hiawatha starting in September if the permitting process goes smoothly.

Sequestration works on the hypothesis that carbon dioxide underground behaves the same way as natural gas, another greenhouse gas, which has existed underground in abundance for millennia without escaping or contaminating aquifers.

U. lecture series

The Utah Museum of Natural History lecture series highlights innovative perspectives on environmental challenges. Remaining events are at various University of Utah venues at 7 p.m. For tickets or more information, call 801-581-7100 or visit www.umnh.utah.edu/nature. The series is underwritten by the R. Harold Burton Foundation and all lectures are broadcast on KCPW 88.3 FM.

Next

Thursday »Brian McPherson, U. professor of civil and environmental engineering, explores carbon sequestration, Aline Skaggs Biology Auditorium, free.

Upcoming

March 10 -- Gary Hirshberg, "Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World," Libby Gardner Hall. Tickets, $15 to $25.

March 31 -- Robert Kennedy Jr. keynote lecture, "Our Environmental Destiny," Kingsbury Hall. Tickets, $15 to $30.

April 15 -- Annette McGivney and James Kay, "Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West," Libby Gardner Hall, free.

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