Headings Environmental
Issues Search Questions 
Environmental Issues.
2) Fossil fuels are burnt on a huge scale (continued).
Reducing the amount
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
or stopping more from entering
it can be achieved by carbon capture,
converting carbon dioxide
to hydrocarbons (or other
fuels)
or iron seeding of oceans.
Carbon capture.
Technology can be used to trap some of the carbon dioxide
emitted by power stations and stop it from entering
the atmosphere.
This is called carbon capture.
Trapped carbon dioxide can be stored in old oil
or gas fields
which are no longer used. Some of these are under the North Sea.
Converting
carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons
or other fuels.
It is possible to react carbon dioxide with hydrogen
and use it as a source of other hydrocarbons
or alcohols.
The process is complex and requires energy to do the
conversion
and to produce hydrogen as a raw
material.
Iron seeding of oceans.
Iron seeding of oceans involves
adding iron to an area of an ocean
at a depth which is close to the sea
surface.
In the upper layer of the
sea there are a large number of
tiny creatures
which are mostly too small to see called
phytoplankton.
These creatures contain chlorophyll and will
photosynthesise.
They multiply rapidly in the presence of an increased level of
iron
forming phytoplankton blooms. The
resulting increased level of
photosynthesis
will remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
It must be said that the three methods
described above
are in their experimental stages and are not yet
widely used to decrease the level of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.
Headings Environmental
Issues Search Questions
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