Artesia Sideways discusses carbon capture and storage

Avatars hear about the benefits of carbon capture and storage - News

By Colin Smith
14 December 2007

Using porous rocks like a sieve to trap bubbles of carbon dioxide could form part of a short term solution to climate change, said an expert on carbon capture and storage at a virtual lecture this month (4 December).

Dr Tara LaForce’s alter ego avatar, Artesia Sideways, delivered her speech as part of the Nature Network’s Second Life Climate Change conference. The conference, which consists of a series of virtual lectures, is being held in the computer generated land of ‘Second Life’.

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of avatars - computer generated characters operated by humans - from around the globe.

The Nature Publishing Group, which consists of publications like the journal Nature and the online website, Nature Network, has constructed their own archipelago in Second Life.

An outdoor theatre, complete with deck chairs, blue sky and palm trees was the setting for Dr La Force’s lecture. Up to 60 avatars with names like Snuggle Wobbit and Mythopoetic Writer flew in from all corners of Second Life to hear her speak.

Dr La Force at Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, told the audience that carbon capture and storage is something that can be done right now to stop climate change. She said countries can keep their existing infrastructure whilst making some “very serious” inroads into reducing CO2. She says this short term plan will give the world time to effectively develop renewable, clean energy options.

She talked about the damaging role that coal plays in warming up the planet, its relative cheapness, its accessibility, and its attractiveness as an easy option for countries to use for power generation. Dr La Force quoting statistics said world coal consumption will increase by 74 per cent and China and India, with large deposits, are going to account for 72 per cent of this increase.

She outlined options for pumping CO2 underground and said it could be stored in oil reservoirs or in ‘un-mine-able’ coal seams. She also outlined a third option – storing carbon dioxide deep underground in saline aquifers.

With funding from Imperial’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Shell Grand Challenge on Clean Fossil Fuels, Dr La Force and her team have been carrying out research in this area.

She said this process would involve capturing Industrial emissions direct from the smoke stack, processing it, and pumping the extracted CO2 to saline aquifers.

“Saline aquifers are geological formations. These aquifers are similar to ‘Aero’ chocolate bars. They consist of porous rocks pocked by tiny holes filled with saltwater. These porous rocks are then capped by non-porous rocks which trap the saltwater,” she said.

Saline aquifers are in plentiful supply around the world. Dr La Force says they are often located close to emission sources making them an ideal resource to store gases deep underground.

The storage process involves pumping saltwater, containing bubbles of CO2, through the aquifers. The porous rock acts like a sieve, trapping CO2 and allowing the salty solution to wash through.

“This process would allow the world to make a smooth transition away from a fossil fuel economy. It also has the potential to impact on carbon emissions very quickly and help developing countries, like China and India, who rely on coal as a cheap resource,” she told the audience.

Dr La Force said she enjoyed the experience of speaking to a new audience in a virtual setting, although it was nerve-wracking.

“It was a completely new experience for me. In a normal situation I can gauge what the audience thinks, but in this instance, all the computer generated characters were staring blankly during my talk. It was only when I finished and they asked some probing questions that I knew the audience was interested in what I had to say,” she said.

Dr La Force said she plans reprise her alter ego, Artesia Sideways, to revisit the land of Second Life again. Although this time she won’t need the assistance of a Nature staff member to operate Artesia Sideways.

“It took two people to operate Artesia. I was the voice, whilst a woman from Nature operated my PowerPoint display and body. Funnily, her character fell asleep during my lecture. I am assured it wasn’t through boredom, apparently she was spending too much time operating Artesia and not enough time operating hers,” she laughed.

Dr La Force will participate next time as an audience member. She plans on flying in to listen to Dr Simon Buckle, Director of Climate Change Policy at the Grantham Institute of Climate Change, and George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and author of ‘Heat: How we can stop the planet burning’.

This is not the first time that Imperial College has had a presence in Second Life. The Faculty of Medicine has established a virtual hospital with a respiratory ward and medical facilities, along with a representation of part of Imperial’s campus. In this instance, Imperial is utilising the virtual space to demonstrate technology, train students and communicate with the healthcare community.

The Second Nature talks were held to coincide with the UN conference on climate change. The Conference, hosted by the Government of Indonesia, brought together representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organisations, and the media.