PNNL leadership in carbon sequestration featured at international conference

A dozen scientists present findings, fill key roles at GHGT-9 on Nov. 16-20

WASHINGTON – Internationally recognized climate scientist and economist Jae Edmonds will speak on Monday about the potential role of carbon capture and sequestration in climate stabilization in the plenary opening session of the 9th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies. He is one of nearly a dozen scientists with the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who will present new findings and insights to the greenhouse gas and carbon management challenge.

Edmonds is a chief scientist at the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), a partnership of PNNL and the University of Maryland at College Park. PNNL's Jim Dooley, a senior staff scientist at JGCRI, will participate in the closing plenary session on "The Challenges Ahead." He is a member of the GHGT-9 programme committee.

Other PNNL highlights from the conference include (all times are EST):

Monday, Nov. 17

• "Comparing Existing Pipeline Networks with the Potential Scale of Future U.S. Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Networks," by Jim Dooley, JGCRI, 2:30 p.m. This session, titled "CCS at Scale," is co-chaired by PNNL's Edmonds.
• "A Preliminary Cost Curve Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Potential in China," by Robert Dahowski, 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 18

• "The Impact of Electric Passenger Transport Technology on the Demand for Coal-fired Power with CCS under a Climate Policy," by Marshall Wise, JGCRI, 4:15 p.m.
• "Water Reactivity in the Liquid and Supercritical CO2 Phase: Has Half the Story Been Neglected?" by Pete McGrail, 10:45 a.m.
• "Large Scale U.S. Unconventional Fuels Production and the Role of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Technologies in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emission from this Potential New Industry," Jim Dooley, JGCRI, 10:45 a.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 19

• Issues forum on "The View From Wall Street," chaired by Jim Dooley, JGCRI, 2:15 p.m. In this session, panelists will explore how the carbon capture and sequestration scientific community can address the needs of the financial community, which will strongly influence how these CCS technologies are commercially deployed.
• "Assessing the Impacts of Future Demand for Saline Groundwater on Commercial-scale Deployment of CCS in the United States," Casie Davidson, 4:15 p.m.
• "Tipping Fees Can't Save Us from the Tipping Point: The Need to Create Durable, Rational Approaches to Risk Management that Motivate the Development and Adoption of Geologic CO2 Storage Best Practices," Jim Dooley, 4:15 p.m.
• "Basalt-CO2-H2O Interactions and Variability in Carbon Mineralization Rate," H. Todd Schaef, 4:15 p.m.

The 9th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies (GHGT) is the preeminent international forum for communicating scientific advancements and insights to green house gas technologies. It is held every two years.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,200 staff and has an $850 million annual budget. Ohio-based Battelle has managed PNNL since the lab's inception in 1965.

The Joint Global Change Research Institute is a unique partnership formed in 2001 between the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The PNNL staff associated with the center is world renowned for expertise in energy conservation and understanding of the interactions between climate, energy production and use, economic activity and the environment.

The Conference is organized by MIT in collaboration with the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG), with major sponsorship from the US Department of Energy. The Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT) conference series was formed in 1997 following the merger of the earlier series of ICCDR and the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation options conference. The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) is the guardian of the conference series. The GHGT conferences are held every two years in IEA GHG's member countries. The conference series rotates between, North America, Europe and Asia.