CO2-opslag kan kleine aardbevingen triggeren

...en door lekken dientengevolge zou koolioxidegas kunnen terugsijpelen in de atmosfeer.
Door Louis Bergeron, Stanford University News, 14 december 2010

Storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide underground in an effort to combat global warming may not be easy to do because of the potential for triggering small to moderate earthquakes, according to Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback.

(...) for sequestration to make a significant contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the volume of gas injected into reservoirs annually would have to be almost the same as the amount of fluid now being produced by the oil and gas industry each year. This would likely require thousands of injection sites around the world.

(...) The problem with potential earthquakes arises, Zoback said, because the interior of the continent is crisscrossed by ancient faults that are often poised to fail – what he calls "a state of failure equilibrium" – because of the immense tectonic forces acting on them.

(...) Even if earthquakes are induced, he said, it would not be an issue of immediate safety. It would take a fairly large earthquake to create a rupture that would send carbon dioxide pouring back to the surface and that situation should be fairly easy to avoid. To get big earthquakes, you need big faults and locations such as that would be ruled out during the selection process.

The problem Zoback foresees is that the seismicity could create small pathways through the rock by which carbon dioxide would gradually seep back into the air.

Zie ook m'n blognotitie:
CO2-opslag kan leiden tot vervuiling van drinkwater