A new study by Professors Michael and Christine Ehlig-Economides has cast major doubt on the viability of the underground storage of carbon dioxide - a prime goal for political greens of all shades who perceive underground CO2 storage as key to reducing alleged man-made emissions.

My piece on the new report has been published today here over at Canada Free Press. However, here is a taster: 

Michael Economides, co-author of the report, states, “For many of us who realize only too plainly the very real dangers and difficulties associated with sequestration, over-inflated claims for CCS have become the last refuge of the energy scoundrel”. Economides adds, “For them we can literally bury the problem and, for some of my colleagues we can even do some good via CO2-enhanced oil recovery. It is our view that neither will ever happen.”

If the governments investing in unproven CCS technology were looking for a new insignia of ‘blessing’ that reflected their faith in the CCS process, the study authors might be inclined to suggest St Jude – the patron saint of lost causes.  After the fiasco in Copenhagen, the war on carbon increasingly resembles one. 

“Sequestering carbon dioxide in a closed underground volume”, is authored by professors Christine Ehlig-Economides, Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A& M University, and Michael J. Economides, Department of Chemical Engineering at Houston University.  The full report can be downloaded here.