The Capture and Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

bullet1 The Environmental Reasons
bullet2 Greenhouse Gases

bullet3 Carbon Dioxide

Currently it is thought that the emissions of carbon dioxide amount to about 7 billion tonnes of carbon, which is about 1% of the total atomspheric carbon dioxide. However, it is thought that this carbon dioxide is reposnisble for over 60% of the "enhanced greenhouse effect", this effect being responsible for climate change. As already stated carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the atmosphere, but human activities, such as the following, is releasing carbon dioxide that the earth managed to sequestrate in some cases many thousands of years ago:

  • Burning fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas for things like energy production and transportation
  • Forest clearances
  • Biomas burning
  • Non-energy production, such as cement production


From anaylise that has been carried out, it would appear that the earth's concentration of carbon dioxide has only varied by about 10% in the 10,000 year prior to the industrialisation of human activities. The concentration in 1800 was been worked out as 278 ppb/year (parts per billion per year), however, since then this concentration has risen by almost 30% to 365 ppb/year. Even allowing for the natural process of sequestration by the oceans and land vegetation of half of man's emissions of carbon dioxide, it means the levels in the atmosphere are rising by about 10% every 20 years.