Japan Seeks to Bury Its Pollution Problem

(Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images)

With just a few weeks to go before the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen, a Japanese company is thinking outside the box about how to limit greenhouse gas pollution. Or, perhaps more accurately, it is thinking below the ground.

Engineers at Toshiba Corp. have recently started experimenting with what is known as “carbon capture and storage” (CCS), a technique that calls for pumping liquified CO2 deep into the Earth’s crust. And if that sounds controversial, well, it is.

The idea is simple enough: Trap carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-burning power plant (or other source) before the gases rise into the atmosphere, and convert those gases into liquid. Then the liquid gets piped down into depleted oil reservoirs or other subsurface repositories, where it is stored in perpetuity—far away from the planet’s delicate atmosphere.

No one has successfully pulled this off yet, so as you might expect, skeptics abound. Environmentalists warn that if CCS technology becomes commonplace, groundwater supplies the world over could be at risk. Some geologists say a human-induced build-up of carbon dioxide underground could even cause earthquakes or surface eruptions. Yikes.

While the technology isn’t anywhere close to being ready for market, CCS is being actively developed—not only in Japan, but in North Africa, Europe and North America as well. No one is suggesting that burying liquified carbon dioxide is the solution to combating global warming. But CCS advocates say that coupled with greater use of renewable energy technology, the technique could make a big difference in fighting climate change down the road.

-Russell Sticklor