News from PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
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Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301October 25, 2000
Princeton receives $20-million grant to address greenhouse problem
Partnership with BP and Ford seeks long-term solutions to climate change
Carbon Mitigation Initiative - Questions and Answers
What does carbon have to do with this planet's climate?
Although its relationship to global climate is complex, it is clear that carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), is a greenhouse gas and tends to push temperatures higher by trapping within the atmosphere heat that would otherwise go directly from the earth's surface into space.
Throughout earth's history, CO2 concentration has varied in step with the cycle of ice ages and warm periods. That is, when the planet warms, CO2 levels rise. To some extent, this increase is a result of warming and to some extent it is a cause. Regardless of what first causes CO2 to rise, however, scientists believe that high CO2 levels reinforce warming trends in what is called "positive feedback." So although it is hard to predict exactly how the climate will respond to extra CO2 in the next decade or so, it is clear that in the long-term, if change is gradual, the gas will push temperatures higher.
With the industrial revolution and the associated consumption of fossil fuels, humans have been pumping unprecedented amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere was 190 parts per million at the end of the last ice age 20,000 years ago, and rose to 280 parts per million by the start of the industrial revolution. Now it is 370 parts per million, which is higher than any time in at least 400,000 years.
How much carbon are we adding to the atmosphere?
The burning of fossil fuels currently produces six billion metric tons of carbon per year. While some of that emission is absorbed by the oceans and the world's forests, three to four billion tons accumulate in the atmosphere each year. That results in the concentration rising at a rate of between 1 and 2 parts per million per year. "One would like to use sequestration to prevent a substantial fraction of that accumulation," says Socolow.
Where can you put so much carbon?
Water has a natural capacity to dissolve carbon dioxide. The water in deep saline aquifers -- large porous rock formations a kilometer or more beneath the earth's surface -- has the capacity to hold hundreds of billions of tons of captured CO2. One aspect of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative is to understand how quickly the gas would leak from such storage locations. Slow leakage, on the order of thousands of years, would allow natural processes to absorb the carbon in a safe manner.
Another possible location for storage of carbon dioxide is the terrestrial biosphere -- trees and other land-based carbon-eating organisms. The terrestrial biosphere might be induced to store an additional 50 to 100 billion tons of carbon, in part through reforestation efforts.
Would putting all that carbon into deep reservoirs be safe and not damage the environment?
"Safety in all its facets -- human health concerns, environmental concerns -- is the focus of this research," says Pacala. CMI scientists will study the chemical, physical and biological changes that added CO2 would cause over time. Researcher will also study what kinds of monitoring will be needed to ensure public safety.
Who are the key players in CMI and what are their strengths?
The principal investigators of CMI are:
Stephen Pacala holds the Frederick D. Petrie Professorship of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Pacala is a leading scientist in understanding the interactions of the global biosphere and climate. With Princeton scientist Jorge Sarmiento, he directs a group called the Carbon Modeling Consortium, which comprises a wide range of disciplines, including ecologists, physical and biological oceanographers, and atmospheric scientists.
Robert Socolow is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies. He is an authority on energy efficiency and energy-environment interactions, and one of the pioneers of industrial ecology.
CMI, which will be part of the multidisciplinary Princeton Environmental Institute, will draw on scientific and engineering expertise at BP as well as a wide range of established research programs at Princeton:
Center for Energy and Environmental Studies has a core group of researchers devoted to the study of environmentally responsive energy systems and policy analysis.
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory is a U.S. government lab located on the Princeton campus. With close cooperation with academic departments, GFDL researchers are the leading developers of large computer models that describe how the oceans, atmosphere and earth's land surface interact.
Department of Chemistry has scientists studying fuel cells and other aspects of using hydrogen as fuel.
Department of Chemical Engineering has strengths in the modeling of chemical reactors, including reactors for transforming fossil fuels into secondary energy sources.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has strengths in the modeling of water resources, underground water resource management, and risk assessment.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has extensive expertise in ecosystems and how biological communities relate to the physical environments of ocean, land and air.
Department of Geosciences is a leader in developing an integrated understanding of how the oceans, atmosphere and earth's land surface work together to make the earth habitable.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has strengths in the areas of combustion and alternative fuel development.
See related article
Princeton receives $20-million grant to address greenhouse problemContacts: Steven Schultz, Princeton University, (609) 258-5729
sschultz@princeton.eduJennifer Ruys, BP, (212) 451-8019
fowleriw@bp.comGwynne Marie Irvin, Ford Motor Company, (313) 323-0646
girvin@ford.com
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