Other Awards and Honors
2009 Awards
Carbon capture shows major potential in China
Unprecedented study identifies 100 years of carbon storage reservoirs
An international carbon sequestration organization recognized a team of PNNL scientists for their unprecedented research to identify and quantify China's potential capacity for capturing and storing carbon dioxide and to determine its potential viability and cost effectiveness for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
On Oct. 13, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terie Riis-Johnansen presented a Recognition Award to Bob Dahowski, Energy & Environment Directorate, at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum's 3rd Ministerial Meeting held in London. Bob accepted the award on behalf of his colleagues, Casie Davison, EED, and Jim Dooley, Fundamental & Computational Sciences Directorate, and their partners at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics and Leonardo Technologies, Inc.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu also spoke at the conference and highlighted the team's research in his presentation.
The award came as the team was finishing its report on the five-year study. Their results showed that China has enormous and widely distributed deep geologic CO2 storage formations that could allow for cost-effective, large-scale deployment of capture and storage technologies for at least 100 years.
"For the first time ever, we have quantified the potential for future large-scale carbon capture and storage deployment within China," Bob said. "Our work suggests that CO2 capture and storage can provide a key element of China's portfolio of options for cost effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
These findings are important as the international community looks for ways to balance economic growth and the resulting demands for energy with the need to reduce and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Support for this research has been provided by the DOE Office of Fossil Energy, Leonardo Technologies, Inc. and the Global Energy Technology Strategy Program. (announced 10/1/2009)