CNN: Can burying carbon emissions work? [View All]

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/12/06/virginia.carbon.capture/

Can burying carbon emissions work?

By Elaine Quijano and Eric Marrapodi

New Haven, West Virginia (CNN) -- Nestled in the heart of American coal country, on the banks of the Ohio River, an expensive, high-stakes experiment is under way -- one that could fundamentally alter the way the world manages carbon emissions.

At first glance, American Electric Power's Mountaineer plant looks like its traditional coal-fire counterparts. But the newest area of the plant, a towering five-story, multi-million dollar structure that began operating this fall, makes this facility one-of-a-kind.

It's the world's first-ever, coal-fire power plant to capture and store some of the carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as a heat-trapping pollutant.

Brian Sherrick, who manages the project for American Electric Power, explains: "We take that CO2, then inject it into the ground into one of two injection reservoirs."

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(Video at the link.)