Posted on: Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Norway scraps plans for deep-sea CO2 experiment
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
A controversial experiment to pump liquid carbon dioxide into the deep ocean has been rejected in Norway after being moved there from Hawai'i.
A permit request to conduct the carbon sequestration experiment in waters off Kaua'i was withdrawn in July after an Environmental Protection Agency public hearing drew unanimous opposition. An earlier plan to conduct the work off Kona on the Big Island was rejected by state authorities.
The tests have international backing. The Honolulu-based Pacific International Center for High Technology Research serves as general contractor for the experiment. Center Climate Program Manager Gerard Nihous earlier said there would be no long-term environmental effect from the work, but that did not mollify opponents, who said they feared impacts on fisheries, the environment and on Hawai'i's reputation as a vacation destination.
The Norway tests had received permit approvals, but were blocked last week by the country's minister of the environment, following protests by World Wildlife Norway and Greenpeace, said Keith Matsumoto, chief operating officer of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research.
"There have been a number of international conference calls to determine the next course of action, and they will continue throughout the week," Matsumoto said.
The experiment grows out of international concern with rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Since the oceans naturally take up much atmospheric carbon, the experiment was designed to see if it was possible to pump the chemical into the deep ocean, where natural conditions would prevent it from re-entering the atmosphere.
The test off Nawiliwili called for pumping 5,000 gallons of food-grade carbon dioxide into water 3,000 feet deep, and then conducting tests to see how it disperses.
Agencies supporting the experiment include the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Australia's Division of Marine Research, Canada's Office of Energy Research and Development, Japan's Global Environmental Technology Department, the Research Council of Norway and ABB Corporate Research of Switzerland.
