Powderhouse Productions Free Essays

One of the major challenges for engineering today is to develop infrastructure that is able to withstand the forces of nature without creating an impact of the natural environment and at the same to support the growth of cities and industries. Malaysia’s Storm water Management and Road Tunnel is one example of the effort to develop the urban landscape while at the same time responding to the demands for environmental management. Though the city is not among the highest in average precipitation, it has been vulnerable to flash floods which have the potential of progressively growing in terms of impact considering the rate of the city’s growth. We will write a custom essay sample on Powderhouse Productions or any similar topic only for you Order Now The government hopes to be able to deal with Kuala Lumpur’s concerns regarding flooding seamlessly with its current city planning and to support future urban development projects. Project Brief The project, completed on the 14th May of 2007 is the longest stormwater channel in South East Asian region. The project aims to relieve the traffic congestion in getting into the Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur or KL as well as to manage seasonal flooding. The project’s main proponents are the country’s Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysian Highway Authority and the consortium of Gamuda Berhad and Malaysian Mining Corporation Berhad. Preliminary feasibility studies were conducted by the Mott MacDonald Group (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel, 2007). The project broke ground in 2004 when tunneling using slurry shield tunnel boring machines began from Gemilang and Tuah commenced simultaneously. The former was completed in April 2006 and the latter a year later. The tunnel has three modes of operations ranging from no rainfall, minor rainfall and storm water diversion and major rainfall and storm water diversion. The double deck motorway tunnel has a length of 4 kilometers and links the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway and the Kg. Pandan Roundabout KL-Seremban Expressway (Kuala Lumpur Flood Mitigation Project, 2007). This crates direct access to the KL city center and the Sungai Besi Airport. So far, access to the motorway has been limited to light vehicles only. The stormwater tunnel has a length of 9.7 kilometers and a diameter of 13.2 meters. The main holding basin directs the storm water flows into programmable reservoirs. The reservoirs are twin-box culvert that also manages the release of the stormwater. Ventilation of the motorway is accomplished with shaft structures equipped with exhausts and fresh air injectors. Management and conditions are maintained through centralized control room through remote computer systems sensor monitoring at interval of one kilometer (Powderhouse Productions, 2006) . So far, has been limited access to the motorway to light vehicles only though the project has been fully completed and operational. The government aims to allow full access by the end of May and operation of the stormwater tunnels during the upcoming monsoons (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel, 2007) How to cite Powderhouse Productions, Papers

Flooding in South Africa free essay sample

Most floods take hours or days to develop, giving residents enough time to prepare or evacuate. Others happen quickly and with little warning. These flash floods can be extremely dangerous and cause major damage to the landscape and the habitants of such an area. Disaster specialists have various ways of classifying floods according to their likelihood of occurring and the intensity of the flood. A hundred-year flood, for example, is an extremely large, destructive event that would theoretically be expected to happen only once every century. Heavy rain in a short period of time in the part of South Africa, caused more than hundreds of people to be homeless by heavy flooding. Floods caused many to seek refuge on rooftops and on trees. This catastrophe killed more than hundreds of people causing the death toll to rise. Recently these floods caused evacuation of the Kruger National, a game reserve in Northern South Africa. We will write a custom essay sample on Flooding in South Africa or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Floods also covered some farmlands and crops were killed as a result forcing farms to close. Most of the roads, dams and large buildings were damaged. Due to flooding some mines were forced to close, this the case of a coal mines in Limpopo. Floods frequently causes major infrastructure damage of roads, railway lines, electricity supply systems, water supply and sewage disposal systems. Bribges over rivers are particularly exposed to damage and disruption of transportation systems follows. The economic effects of flooding are often greater than the flood itself. (Parker 2000) According to Parker (2000) because floods frequently destroy crops and livestock, food shortages are not uncommon in the aftermath. Floods may affect food availability in a number of ways. Food stocks may be damaged if storage areas are flooded. Serious flooding usually disrupts transportation of food deficit areas, particularly in towns, which are cut off from supply sources and have inadequate food stock. Impacts of flooding may hinder the economic growth and development that is the high cost of relief and recovery may adversely impact investment in infrastructure and other development activities in the area and in certain cases may cripple the frail economy of the of the region. Recurrent flooding in a region may discourage long-term investments by the government and private sector alike. Lack of livehoods, combined with migration of skilled labour and inflation may have a negative impact on a region’s economic growth. Loss of resource can lead to high costs of goods and services, delaying its development programmes. (Drep operation international federation of Red Cross and crescent societies). Figure 2 three kid were during floods in Limpopo As discussed under various perspectives, it is clear from the assignment that floods had adverse impact on the socio-economic status of livehoods for people in South Africa more especially the residents of Limpopo. It is also evident that there are varying underlying causes of floods i South Africa. Places near the flood event are the most susceptible to the dangers of the floods. Proximity of these places and poverty were identified as being the main cause of vulnerability of people

Biology And Human Evolution Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Biology And Human Evolution Essay, Research Paper Human Biology and Evolution Worlds are Alive The earliest human life signifier can be traced back more than 3.5 billion old ages ago. Worlds are said to be posterities of a individual celled ascendant. Although they are different in size and form all basic maps are likewise. The more complex the organisation of the cell became the more successful and developed it became. As these individual celled beings developed they became known as pre-humans. We portion many features with these pre-humans. Some of these features include the Masterss of heredity DNA and RNA every bit good as proteins composed of amino acids, membranes or edge cells and in conclusion controlled cell division or mitosis, key to the girl cells. Kingdoms are Alive The diverseness of lands is arranged into lands that classify beings from simple to complex. The traditional five lands are Prokaryote, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, and Anamalia. We will write a custom essay sample on Biology And Human Evolution Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Prokaryote is a bacteria that lacks atomic membrane. Protoctista is a heterogenous grouping that combines a great diverseness of signifiers. Fungi are known for being of import agents of composing they include yeast and mushroom. Plantae, are categorized as workss that use sunlight to change over to energy. Lastly Anamalia, Anamalial members are multicellular and to the full nomadic, they obtain their foods from other populating things. Our Topographic point in Nature Worlds are hierarchically classified into a series of progressively specific groups. They range from the Kingdom Animalia to the Genus Homo, the Homo Sapiens appears to be its lone life representative Kingdom: Animal kingdom Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertabrata Class: Mammalia Family: Hominidfae Genus: Homosexual Our Topographic point in clip Over a well big span of geological clip life on Earth has changed drastically. Worlds and their close relations are the most recent reachings in the Tertiary period. The periods range Precambrian which was over 56 million old ages ago to Quaternary which was 1.8 million old ages ago to show. In this chart you will be able to see all periods runing from Precambrian to Quaternary. Table Time period Age ( MILLIONS OF YEARS ) SOME IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF LIFE Quaternate 0.01 1.8 Historic clip ice ages ; worlds appear Third 5 65 Apelike ascendants of worlds appear major radiation of mammals, birds, and pollenating insects Cretaceous 144 Blooming workss appear ; dinosaurs and many groups of organisms become inherent aptitude at terminal of period Jurassic 208 Gymnosperms continue as dominant workss ; dinosaurs dominant ; first birds Triassic 245 Gymnosperms dominate landscapes ; first dinosaurs and mammals Permian 286 Radiation of reptilians ; beginnings of mammal-like reptilians and most modern orders of insects Carboniferous 360 Extensive woods of vascular workss ; foremost seed workss ; beginning of reptilians ; amphibious vehicles dominant Devonian 408 Diversification of bony fishes ; foremost amphibious vehicles and insects Silurian 438 Diversity of jawless craniates ; colonisation of land by Plants and anthropods ; beginnings of vascular workss Ordovician 505 First craniates ( jawless fishes ) ; Marine algae abundant Welsh 544 Beginning of most spineless phyla ; Diverse algae Precambrian 700 4600 Origin of first animate beings Approximate beginning of the Earth Biosystem? s the Movie I viewed a picture exemplifying the senses through modern dance. The picture was really in writing and elaborate and showed a practical circuit of the variety meats. First I observed how deoxidized blood travel through the bosom Chamberss to the lungs to acquire oxidized this was done through the cardiovascular system. Then I observed three parts of the nervous system, the ear, oculus and the encephalon. I so took a circuit through the urinary system, the digestive system, respiratory system and eventually the musculoskeloton system, which concluded the movie. Worlds are Vertebrates Worlds are placed in the subphylum Vertebrata. The class Vertebrata contains all animate beings with a anchor. This group contains diverse animate beings such as fish, amphibious vehicles, reptilians, birds and mammals. Most of our familiar organic structure systems are shared with craniates. Musculoskeletal System A skeleton household of four and a Canis familiaris in a life room watching baseball illustrated the musculoskeletal system. The baseball game was really an informational picture on the articulations and musculuss of the upper organic structure. Circulatory System The circu latory system has three chief constituents, the lymphatic system, capillaries and blood. The lymphatic system transports intercellular fluid through the circulatory system. Capillaries are microscopic blood vass whose wall is merely one cell in thickness. They carry blood opulent in O and foods to all tissues in the organic structure. Urinary System The kidney in the urinary system regulates the chemical composing of the blood therefore besides modulating the chemical composing of the organic structure tissues. The functional unit of the kidney is known as a uriniferous tubule and it absorbs much of the soluble food molecules, certain mineral ions and some H2O. This mixture is besides referred to as piss. The urinary vesica so collects this piss from the ureter and shops it for periodic elimination from the organic structure. Hormone System The hormone system consists of a figure of distinct secretory organs located on assorted points in the organic structure. The endocrinal secretory organs lack canals, therefore they? pass on? amongst each other chemically. The thyroid secretory organs regulate metamorphosis. The pituitary secretory organs control the hormone secretory organs and adrenal secretory organs located on the kidneys separate into two parts, the cerebral mantle and the myelin. The cerebral mantle controls H2O balance and blood force per unit area. The myelin increases the rate of metamorphosis, pulse, and external respiration and simulates the transition of animal starch into glucose. Nervous System Brains differ among species. Vertebrate encephalons vary tremendously between one another in both absolute and comparative size. They besides differ mostly in the sizes of assorted encephalon constituents comparative to each other. A figure of different encephalon reproduction runing in organic structure size from muskrat, which was about the size of a walnut to dolphin, which was about the comparative size of a human encephalon. The Six Senses The site of communicating when a chemical courier from one cell stimulates activities of another is called synapsis. The constituents of synapsis are sight, hearing and balance, touch, gustatory sensation and odor. These six senses enable us to work expeditiously. Worlds are Mammals There are many differences among mammals. Worlds have milk mammary secretory organs, hair, individual bone construction in the lower jaw, three-bone in-between ear construction, high fixed organic structure temperature etc. But the most important difference is the male and female setup differ greatly among other animate beings of the same species. Some mammals may be classified as eutherian, monotiems and marsupial reproducers. Worlds are Primates Our anatomical construction clearly reveals our common heritage with other Primatess: lemurs, louers, tarsiers, monkeys and apes. Early Primate Development Earliest Primatess day of the month from around 65 million old ages ago, at the really beginning of the age of mammals. They do non resemble the Primatess of today. Cookei, belonging to the genus Plesiadapis is 56 million old ages old she is the most complete skeleton of her clip. Early Modern Primates 57 million old ages ago primates similar to present twenty-four hours lemurs became good established in wood? s and north continents. Northatcus Tenebrosus found in Wyoming and was 48 million old ages old. Worlds are Higher Primates Together with the monkeys, apes etc. worlds are informally categorized as? higher? Primatess. More technically humans belong to a suborder of Primatess called Anthropordeals Itoplornine. Worlds are Hominoids The closest life human relatives to the human species are the lesser apes ( Gibbons and Hylobates syndactyluss ) and the great apes ( gorillas, Pan troglodytess and Pongo pygmaeus ) We are all classified under subfamily Hominoidea. Yet it is with the great apes that we portion the most extended similarities and most common lineage. An early Pongo pygmaeus relation found in Indonesia on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Proven to be the most clearly identifiable dodos relation of an Pongo pygmaeus. I observed them to be about precisely likewise. Yet there were many losing pieces to the ancient skull that made it hard to come to any definite decision. The parts that were found wee apparently indistinguishable to that of an Pongo pygmaeus. Human Development ? Lucy? One of the first known pre-humans was found in 1974 in Ethiopia. It was named Lucy after the popular Beatles vocal? Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? . Lucy is 3.2 million old ages old, 3foot 6inches and 55 lbs. ? Turkana Boy? Turkana male child was found in 1984 at Navio Kotome in North Kenya. When found Turkana male child was 5foot 3inches and 106 lbs. If Turkana male child had lived scientists believed he would hold grown to be 6foot 1inches and 150 pound. Earliest Human Relatives As I antecedently stated one of the earliest human relations was? Lucy? . Her scientific name is Australopithecus Afaransis. Lucy and others like Turkana Boy show grounds of walking unsloped.

Art Paper essays

Art Paper essays I was able to examine Life Magazine issue: July 2, 1945. This issue was very interesting to examine because it exhibited many things we discussed in class and talked about in the book lifes America. In this Life magazine issue however I found one major theme that was expressed. This particular issue stressed heavily on the ideas of World War 2. This issue of Life magazine pushed to promote the war in anyway it could. There was not a single page in this issue that did not mention World War 2. Also, in conjunction to this theme of war I also found this issue to feed heavily on the ideas of nationalism. The whole issue was built upon the ideas that World War 2 is a good thing. Also, this issue gave me the impression that America is quote unquote the best while the rest of the countries especially Germany (a World War 2 rival) is inferior to us, so in other words other countries especially Germany cannot in anyway compete with America, they are below us! According to Wendy Kozols book Lifes America Life magazine was a big magazine to fuel support for World War 2. Propaganda was seen as the main focus of this vary issue. Kozol states in her book that Lifes photojournalistic formula relied heavily on the images of the middleclass family, to represent our national culture as a perfect whole. Also, in reflection to this vary issue I feel strongly that Kozols ideas are right on. This other quote from her book also supports my perceptions of this Life issue. Kozol states that the Ideas of nationalism, a powerful but contradictory cultural force that indeed shapes our social identities that construct a popular/democratic arena of shared interests and objectives. So in simpler terms Kozol is saying that Life magazine is v ...

End-to-End Hiring Initiative Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

End-to-End Hiring Initiative - Assignment Example With these types of unanswered questions to keep in mind, most organizations cannot really put a final closure to the duration of the hiring period. Because of the expectation that the right applicant has not been interviewed, the notice of a job opening is not yet closed. Another concern faced by the organization during this period is "how many managers are available to help out with this task?" The task of hiring is not included in the daily function of managers. They are normally busy with their daily workloads. A related question would be "how can the organization hire effectively under such circumstances?" To resolve such predicament, strategically integrating and re-engineering the five components established in the hiring process validate personnel selection procedures. The five components consist of; workforce planning, recruitment, hiring, security and suitability, and orientation. The entire process starts with the first component; workforce planning as its foundation. Work force planning, being a system process in identifying which individuals will be beneficial to the organization, these selected few can meet the establishment’s mission and goals. The second step procedurally moves on to recruitment, which is an on-going process. If job vacancies exist, this is where the hiring process becomes active. It can overlap into the next component, which is security and suitability where the candidate is assessed if his or her character, abilities, and behavior are in favor of the organization’s welfare. If the candidate for the job proves appropriate for the position, the organization’s responsibility is making sure the person is oriented to their rules and regulations.  

IFRS AND GAP CONVERGENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IFRS AND GAP CONVERGENCE - Essay Example GAAP stands for General accepted accounting principles and are the set of standards developed by US, keeping their needs in mind. On the other hand, IFRS stands for international financial reporting standards are standards developed by UK. In the past financial statements were relevant to these respective countries only but globalization has called for the need of one set of standards. Convergence of international accounting refers to the goal and the path taken to reach one set of standards that are followed throughout the world. The goal is to eliminate the differences and to improve the standards. Various accounting textbooks now feature a mixture of both standards, by presenting financial statements in both formats. The aim is to inform students about the difference in language and presentation so that they apply the relevant standards in future. Currently both organizations aim to converge GAAP of US and IFRS of UK and later they plan to develop one set of standards for the worl d. ... This is because these companies often have to prepare two sets of financial statements to satisfy different stakeholders. The convergence process has helped improved standards to a large extent but there are various differences that have not yet been eliminated. DIFFERENCES Revenue recognition Under the US GAAP the revenue is recognized according to fixed prices or prices that are determinable therefore the results are not recorded as revenue until the contingency is resolved. Under IFRS however depends on the ability of the entity to measure the revenue that is being considered and the economic benefits associated with the revenue. This often results in a difference in â€Å"revenue recognition† as the revenue is recognized earlier under IFRS and later under GAAP. Sale of goods- continuous transfer Another major difference is that GAAP does not allow cost to cost revenue recognition and the revenue under GAAP the revenue transaction is usually deferred if the revenue cannot b e measured on a reliable basis. IFRS on the other hand only defers revenue in instances only when an act is more significant than others. The level of significance depends on the situation in hand. Barter transactions Under GAAP the fair value of goods and services is used when the value surrendered is not clearly evident under the barter transaction. Under IFRS the fair value of goods and services is used only when the value is not determinable. SIMILARITIES Barter transactions In both IFRS and GAAP companies are required to use the fair value of goods and services as the starting point when measuring a barter transaction Accounting policy: The prior and comparative years are restated in both sets of

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage Introduction Increasing numbers now recognise the potential devastation upon the worldwide environment climate change could have. With CO2 emissions increasing at a rate of 1.6%/Yr (1999-2005) and emissions from power production at 23,684 Mt/yr (2005)1 plus no current successor to the Kyoto Protocol*, it is clear that Carbon Dioxide is going to become an ever growing threat to our planets stability. Worryingly, not only in a climatic sense but a societal one as well. From solar and geothermal power to hydrogen fuel cells, the scientific community is working to develop ways of reducing CO2 output and one field of growing interest from both the research and business community is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Serious research in this field is relatively new and many aspects of its viability, safety, efficiency and cost have still to be fully discovered. As CCS is simply storing CO2 and not actually decomposing it, many feel CCS is counter-productive and the resources should instead be channelled to focus on clean energy production. However with current emission trends, CCS will be an extremely useful tool should we see drastic changes in climate toward the end of this century and need a way to buy time to fully utilise and develop clean energy. This paper will briefly describe a range of potential CCS methods as shown in figure A as well as discuss the potential for CCS in our society. The smallest estimated potential storage for CO2 at 320Gt is worth approximately 32 years of emissions!2 Few dispute the fact that we should evolve to a more environmentally-friendly society in all senses of the word, CCS will buy the time needed for this to happen. Over the last 10-20 years several proposals have been put forward and developed such as the Sleipner oil field, Norway and ‘CarbFix in Iceland. We are now beginning to get live data from current CCS projects worldwide to analyse and use for the enhancement of CCS, this paper aims to synthesise this information from these pr ojects for a brief analysis of CCS potential. Deep Ocean or the deep seabed Many have hypothesised on potential CCS sites. One suggestion is storing CO2 in the deep ocean or seabed as shown in figure B. As the oceans are already absorbing ~8 billion tons of CO2and negating ~50% of our anthropogenic CO2 emissions3 it is already a natural CCS site. CO2 is denser than seawater in its supercritical state (both solid and liquid, see figure C)and so will sink and pond on the seabed staying there for thousands of years as figure B illustrates. Alternatively, ships would pump CO2 into the ocean as shown in figure B where natural thermohaline currents would dissolve the CO2 upon which that slightly denser body of water would pond on the seabed. While salinity, pressure and temperature all affect the dissolution of CO2, below 600m, 41-48kg/m3 CO2 can dissolve in a 1M brine solution,2 a fairly large figure. Increase the brine concentration and this figure will drop,however, with the average molarity of the oceans at 0.5M it is clear that this store has great potential . Unfortunately immediate acidification of the local water would occur as carbonic acid forms. Therefore this storage method would probably be devastating to local ecology. The cost:benefit analysis over acidifying patches of ocean as opposed to lowering atmospheric CO2 and thats effect upon terrestrial habitats and surface ocean marine communities could fill a thesis and resulted in much debate. This method has so far seen no field tests even though its potential storage capacity is vast and inestimable. Mineral Carbonation Of similar environmental concern is disposal via mineral carbonation. CO2 reacts with certain rocks to form carbonate minerals. This process is seen naturally in the form of weathering where ~1.8108 tons CO2 are mineralised annually yet this geochemical process could also occur underground. Rather than mine and crush rocks such as basalt and peridotite to react with atmospheric CO2 on the surface, causing major environmental disruption due to mass mining operation and a great increase in sediment flux,4 CO2 would be injected into deep geological stores of: olivine; pyroxene; and plagioclase.Here the CO2 would slowly react to form its carbonates over tens of thousands of years where it would then be a near permanent store. As these reactive minerals are found in reasonable abundance in basic rock, potential CCS sites of this nature are found worldwide. The Columbia River basalt has been predicted to be able to dispose of 36-148Gt/CO2 whereas the Caribbean flood basalts could potentia l store 1,000-5,500Gt/CO2. Similarly, the basalt basin offshore of Washington D.C. could hold 500-2,500Gt/CO2.10 The gaseous CO2 conversion to solid carbonate involves an increase in volume and pressure. It is hypothesised this process would cause major fracturing within the basalt rock which could potentially form an escape route for the still supercritical CO2 (see figure D).8 The ‘CarbFix Pilot Project in Iceland is monitoring the effects and potential of this style of CCS through intensive Geophysical monitoring as ~9.4Mt/CO2 is pumped into the ground. Coal-bed seams Worldwide there are many coal fields economically unviable for mining and these are potential CCS sites as figure A (4) shows. The coal seams contain natural micropores due to coal production process. These micropores currently contain methane molecules, again as a by-product of the coal creation. However, CO2 molecules adsorb to the micropores easier than the CH4.2 By pumping CO2 into these seams a volume of CH4 will be yielded proportional to the volume of CO2 injected,2 while still providing a deep underground store for CO2. This has been calculated at 20m3/ton coal from a field site in the San Juan Basin. Therefore there is an approximate minimum storage capacity of 150Gt/CO2 worldwide however exact volumes of unmineable coal are not available. Adsorption involves weak electrostatic forces to hold the CO2 molecules to the pore which are very dependent on a stable environment.2 Should any tectonic activity take place to alter the temperature or pressure of the storage site, the C O2 would detach and plume. This CO2 plume would then slow migrate to the surface through existing pore channels which figure D shows clearly. This is a worry faced in many CCS schemes, as any CO2 migration could cause interaction and dissolution into groundwater thereby polluting it, force saline groundwater to mix with freshwater and pollute the freshwater or alternatively migrate to the earth surface and plume. Also, dependent on the CCS site, CO2 could end up acidifying patches of ocean where ‘leaks have occurred. CO2 plumes on the earth surface have proven fatal before when 1,700 people and all fauna within a 14km radius perished in the Lake Nyos disaster when CO2 suddenly degassed from the base of the lake to the atmosphere. 14 Depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers One of the most promising and researched suggestions is storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers. Figure A (1,3a,3b) illustrates these are both on and off shore and deep geological area of rock with high porosity and low permeability. The gas field ‘Sleipner West in the North Sea just off the Norwegian coast is an actual working CCS site where much research into CCS is being conducted and monitored. 1106 tons of CO2/Yr2 are being pumped into a space of 5.5x1011m32 previously occupied by predominantly methane gas. The CO2 is stored in the pore spaces in rocks identical to how groundwater is stored in aquifers. In the case of saline aquifers, while pumping in CO2, saline water is removed as well as forced into surrounding rock. These Porous rocks are commonly sedimentary rocks found in basins normally 600-1200m deep. Pressure increases with depth as well as temperature, by about 28Â °C/km2. This means CO2 would need to be stored in its supercritical state ( figure C) which is more compact than normal, 1 ton of CO2 occupies 6m3 rock2. Once injected, the CO2 will naturally migrate through the pore spaces trying to reach ground level (figure D). During this process the CO2 will become ‘trapped and well in pore routes which do not actually lead to the surface. The inevitable migration makes choosing a CCS site difficult. Any site needs an impermeable rock layer above it or a low permeability rock where the migration time will be equal to the sites desired lifespan to act as a ‘cap rock. Without a cap rock, the CO2 could migrate back to the surface in decades making the entire operation an epic fail. However, storing CO2 in these fields is not just about pocketing it underground. The geochemical processes of dissolution and mineral precipitation would also occur adding to the favourability of depleted reservoirs as the optimum CCS technique. For any single site 3 different forms of CCS would be occurring. Dissolution would take a few thousand years dependant on the surface area to volume ratio of water to CO2 and mineralisation would happen along similar timelines. Therefore, four factors will affect the usefulness of any CCS depleted reservoir site: immobilisation of CO2 in any traps or wells; geochemical reactions between the rock and CO2; dissolution into groundwater or saline water resident in the rock; and migration back to the surface.2 The benefits of this method of CCS do not stop here though! The process of pumping CO2 into the ground forces out the dregs of what was previously there, beneficial if it was gas or oil. Shows this as a separate process but it can easily be paired with depleted fossil fuel stores. This can be collected and sold, providing a slight economical offset to the cost of the project. This is referred to as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). EOR has been embraced in the Americas and is in use at Pan-Canadians Weyburn field in Saskatchewan, another field example of CCS in use today. Only 18Mt/CO2 is its expected capacity2 however data on this specific technique will be invaluable. It does raise questions into the economics as it would take thousands of these sites worldwide to have a significant impact upon atmospheric levels and with each new site, the risks of a CO2 disaster associated with the storing of CO2 increases. Worldwide there is great uncertainty into the potential volumetric storage capacity of CO2 in underground reservoirs ranging from 400-10,000 Gt/CO2 according to Hendriks and Blok, 425Gt/CO2 was proposed by Van De Meer whereas Koide and team calculated it at 320Gt/CO2. There is such variation not only because worldwide high resolution mapping of the subsurface is scarce, but the presence of micropores is undetectable and the question of how do you incorporate figures from processes such as dissolution and geochemical mineral precipitation is raised. Figure E shows the IPCC calculation of potential worldwide storage sites. Either way, CCS can cl early buy the time we may need to avoid major global climate change. Conclusion As natural gas itself contains a fraction of CO2, this proves it is possible to store CO2 in a geological setting for millions of years, the exact purpose of CCS technology. Unfortunately, with all the ambition and optimism over CCS, its true benefits must be realistically analysed. Yes CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas and the one most accountable to anthropogenic sources,1 but it is only one of many. CCS is completely unable to deal with methane, sulphur oxides and of apparent increasing importance, water vapour. Critics are also completely correct with their feelings of it only being a temporary fix. The earths surface system is dynamic enough that the stored carbon will eventually make its way back into the atmospheric carbon cycle . Although we will be far gone, is that a responsible excuse? CO2 migration will occur within the store and so will need constant monitoring. Is the economic cost of initiation, monitoring and potential clean-up should leaks develop enough to justify t he project? Current estimates reckon in the cement industry, it will cost $50-250/ton CO2 to be avoided2 and that electricity prices will have to double at minimum2, the lower figures representing technology advancement. The CO2 could pollute groundwater sources with saline water and Cox et. al. have perceived that a fault during late stage CO2 injection could produce a CO2 plume similar to that seen at Lake Nyos.[19] While this risk could be mitigated by placing CCS sites offshore it would still be an ecological disaster.2 Finally, who would be responsible for the CCS site? The purpose of the site is to store CO2 for 10,000 years or more.19 It is highly unlike any company will be around for its lifetime. While CCS is technically possible, it undoubtedly requires more research and development to convince not only the rest of the scientific community, but the general public as well. As of February 2010 Metz, B. et. al. IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage 2005 ISBN-13 978-0-521-86643-9 Holloway, S. Underground Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide a viable greenhouse gas mitigation option Energy 30 (2005) Pg2318-2333 Keeling, R. Triage in the greenhouse Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg820-822 Bickle, M. Geological carbon storage Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg815-818 Bachu S. Sequestration of CO2 in geological media in response to climate change Energy Conservation Management 2004 (Pg147-164) National Oceanographic Data Center www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOA05/pr_woa05.html (Data set 2005) Dessert, C. et. al. Weathering laws and their impact of basalt weathering on the global carbon cycle Chemical Geology 202 Pg257-273 (2003) Matter, J. Kelemen, P. Permanent storage of carbon dioxide in geological reservoirs by mineral carbonation Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg837-840 McGrail, P. et. al. Potential for carbon dioxide sequestration in flood basalts Journal of Geophysical Research 111, 2006 Pg445-468 Goldberg, D. Slagle, A. A global assessment of deep sea basalt sites for carbon sequestration Energy Procedia 1 (2009) Pg3675-3682 Juerg, M. et. al. Permanent Carbon Dioxide storage into basalt: the CarbFix Pilot Project, Iceland Energy Procedia 1 (2009) Pg3641-3646 Creedy, D. An introduction to geological aspects of methane occurrence and control in British deep coal mines Geology 1991;24 Pg209-220 Glazer, E. CO2 Sequestration Princeton University Website www.princeton.edu/~chm333/2002/fall/co_two/geo/coal_beds.htm#_ftn7 2002 Le Guern, F. Sigvaldason, G. The Lake Nyos event and natural CO2 degassing Volcanol Geotherm Research 1989 Pg95-276 Czernichowski-Lauriol, I. The underground disposal of Carbon Dioxide British Geological Survey 1996 Pg183-276 Hendriks, C. Blok, K. Underground storage of Carbon Dioxide Energy Conservation Management 1995 36(6-9):539-542 Van De Meer, L. Investigation regarding the storage of carbon dioxide in Aquifers Energy Conservation Management 1992;33(5-8):611-618 Kodie, H. et. al. Subterranean containment and long term storage of carbon dioxide in unused aquifers and in depleted natural gas reservoirs Energy Conservation Management 1992;33(5-8):619-626 Cox, H. et. al. Safety and stability of underground CO2 storage British Geological Survey 1996 Pg116-162