Scientists Disagree Over Canadian Carbon Sequestration Project Leak
You had to know this was coming... A new piece in Scientific American highlights the objections of some scientists over claims that the world's largest geologic carbon sequestration project in Saskatchewan is leaking.
First are scientists affiliated with the project, who have issued a statement saying "based on extensive scientific research conducted by the IEA-GHG Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring & Storage Project, no results have been found that would support the recently reported conclusion that CO2 injected as part of the CO2-EOR Project has migrated through the geological storage system to the surface."According to statements made to Scientific American the initial results which brought this case into the spotlight are being overinterpreted:
Although an analysis of stable carbon isotopes showed that CO2 collected near the soil's surface had a similar chemical signature to that of the injected CO2, this is not enough evidence to claim that it is the injected CO2, and not gas produced naturally by microbes, plants, and other organic matter in the soil, Whittaker says. "We've performed similar measurements for soil gas and the numbers they have are all within our range of sampling," he notes, adding, "Multiple lines of evidence collected in the area have indicated that CO2 having that isotopic composition is of natural origin."
Read more: Scientific American
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