ENERGY FIRMS ARE STEPPING UP PROJECTS TO BURY GREENHOUSE GASES BUT STORAGE WILL NOT BE A SILVER BULLET TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING, AN INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA) EXPERT SAID ON MONDAY. CAPTURING AND PUMPING HEAT-TRAPPING CARBON DIOXIDE UNDERGROUND COSTS TOO MUCH TO MAKE SENSE FOR MOST INDUSTRIES AT ABOUT $35-$55 A TONNE, KELLY THAMBIMUTHU, CHAIRMAN OF THE IEA'S GREENHOUSE GAS TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH PROGRAMME, TOLD REUTERS. "IT'S EXPENSIVE...THIS CAN BE ONE SOLUTION AMONG MANY TO GLOBAL WARMING (BUT) IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A SILVER BULLET," HE SAID DURING A CARBON DIOXIDE CONFERENCE IN TRONDHEIM, NORWAY. THE IEA IS AN ENERGY ADVISER TO 26 RICH NATIONS. STILL, A HANDFUL OF COMPANIES ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN BURYING CARBON, MOSTLY IN CASES WHERE IT MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE TO FILTER AND CLEAN NATURAL GAS BEFORE SALE FROM WELLS THAT NATURALLY INCLUDE HIGH LEVELS OF CARBON DIOXIDE. THREE EXISTING SCHEMES -- BY STATOIL IN NORWAY, ENCANA IN CANADA AND BP IN ALGERIA -- CURRENTLY BURY THREE MILLION TONNES A YEAR, HE SAID. HIGH CARBON TAXES, FOR INSTANCE, MAKE STATOIL FILTER GAS AT ITS SLEIPNER FIELD. OTHER PLANNED ENERGY SCHEMES, BY CHEVRON IN AUSTRALIA, STATOIL AND ROYAL DUTCH SHELL IN NORWAY AND BY BP IN SCOTLAND AND CALIFORNIA WOULD BURY A FURTHER 12.5 MILLION TONNES OF CARBON DIOXIDE A YEAR. THE FIGURES ARE A PINPRICK IN WORLD EMISSIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES FROM HUMAN ACTIVITIES -- MOSTLY FROM POWER PLANTS, FACTORIES AND CARS -- OF ABOVE 25 BILLION TONNES. A 500 MEGAWATT COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT EMITS ABOUT THREE MILLION TONNES A YEAR. SOME EXPERTS SAY THAT BURYING CARBON DIOXIDE COULD PROVE AN EASY WAY TO OFFSET GLOBAL WARMING. AND THE GAS CAN IN SOME CASES BE PUMPED UNDERGROUND INTO A SUBSEA OIL RESERVOIR, FOR INSTANCE, TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE AND FORCE OIL TO THE SURFACE.
