Fourth Year Report 2005
Full PDF Report
Following on our three-year review last November, Year Four of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative has been a period of growth and refocusing. The research groups of CMI have continued exploring their core subjects, but have also added new research directions.
The Carbon Capture Group has gained a new emphasis on hybrid fossil-fuel renewable strategies. Biomass paired with coal and wind paired with natural gas are two strategies currently being examined to decrease emissions while exploiting the advantages of fossil fuels.
In the Carbon Storage Group, the research focus has sharpened. After completing assessments of geochemical aspects of underground storage, the team is now focusing on studies of cement integrity and strategies for estimating potential leakage.
The Carbon Science Group this year has made considerable progress in inversion modeling of carbon sources and sinks. These efforts are the first steps toward a Carbon Observing System that will allow both monitoring of carbon sources and sinks and prediction of their future behavior.
Policy & Integration Group
The Carbon Policy Group and Integration Activity have now been merged into a single Policy & Integration Group. The group is pursuing policy "scouts" and working to synthesize and disseminate CMI research results particularly the popular concept of "stabilization wedges."
This report describes research progress made this year by all four groups, and also broadly outlines future plans. However, this year's Annual Meeting in January, 2005, is designed to provide input to the planning process and help shape CMI's coming research efforts.