State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

carbon storage4

  • The Advances and Challenges of Carbon Capture and Storage

    The Advances and Challenges of Carbon Capture and Storage

    While in energy policy discussions, I heard carbon capture, utilization and storage consistently dismissed as either too expensive or too uncertain in a low-carbon future that favors natural gas, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Yet as was made clear during the three-day Research Coordination Network on Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage annual meeting hosted by…

  • Climate Change Innovator Elected to National Academy

    Climate Change Innovator Elected to National Academy

    Peter Kelemen, a geologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who studies rocks from the deep earth and, recently, their possible uses in battling climate change, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

  • From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    Carbon capture, storage and reuse has the potential to help us reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming. The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is bringing together experts from an array of fields to assess the state of the technology April 14-16.

  • Researcher Takes Measure of Carbon Storage in Iceland

    Researcher Takes Measure of Carbon Storage in Iceland

    The idea of capturing carbon and storing it away offers an appealing solution to the “greenhouse gas” emissions from fossil fuels that are warming the planet. But how can we measure the process well enough to know what sort of impact the technology has?

  • Photo Essay: High Desert, Deep Earth

    Photo Essay: High Desert, Deep Earth

    In the Arabian peninsula nation of Oman, geologists are studying the Hajar mountains–a range containing rocks that have been thrust up from the deep earth. Accessible to humans in only a few places on earth, these kinds of rocks offer clues to the planet’s deep history–and possible ways that natural processes may be harnessed to…

  • Ancient Rocks, Modern Purpose

    Ancient Rocks, Modern Purpose

    The desert sultanate of Oman is home to some of the weirdest—and possibly most useful—rocks on earth. The stark Hajar mountains, near the border with Saudi Arabia, contain a chunk of earth’s mantle—a zone that makes up most of earth’s mass, but normally lies inaccessible to humans, far below the surface. Here, though, a sliver…

  • What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    The Obama administration will propose new rules to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. But is “clean coal” technology up to the job?

  • Studying Cutting-Edge Carbon Storage Technologies

    Studying Cutting-Edge Carbon Storage Technologies

    This past June, PhD candidates from Earth Institute’s Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy Miriam Okun and Yinghuang Ji traveled to Alabama to attend Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS), an intensive 10-day program hosted by Southern Company and sponsored by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.  The program allowed participants to study cutting-edge…

  • Artificial Trees: Giving Us Time to Act?

    Artificial Trees: Giving Us Time to Act?

    Soon after Klaus Lackner met Allen Wright at Biosphere 2 in Arizona, they began dreaming up a way to pull CO2 out of the air. After years of work, the two have come up with a working laboratory-scale prototype…

  • The Advances and Challenges of Carbon Capture and Storage

    The Advances and Challenges of Carbon Capture and Storage

    While in energy policy discussions, I heard carbon capture, utilization and storage consistently dismissed as either too expensive or too uncertain in a low-carbon future that favors natural gas, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Yet as was made clear during the three-day Research Coordination Network on Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage annual meeting hosted by…

  • Climate Change Innovator Elected to National Academy

    Climate Change Innovator Elected to National Academy

    Peter Kelemen, a geologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who studies rocks from the deep earth and, recently, their possible uses in battling climate change, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

  • From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    Carbon capture, storage and reuse has the potential to help us reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming. The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is bringing together experts from an array of fields to assess the state of the technology April 14-16.

  • Researcher Takes Measure of Carbon Storage in Iceland

    Researcher Takes Measure of Carbon Storage in Iceland

    The idea of capturing carbon and storing it away offers an appealing solution to the “greenhouse gas” emissions from fossil fuels that are warming the planet. But how can we measure the process well enough to know what sort of impact the technology has?

  • Photo Essay: High Desert, Deep Earth

    Photo Essay: High Desert, Deep Earth

    In the Arabian peninsula nation of Oman, geologists are studying the Hajar mountains–a range containing rocks that have been thrust up from the deep earth. Accessible to humans in only a few places on earth, these kinds of rocks offer clues to the planet’s deep history–and possible ways that natural processes may be harnessed to…

  • Ancient Rocks, Modern Purpose

    Ancient Rocks, Modern Purpose

    The desert sultanate of Oman is home to some of the weirdest—and possibly most useful—rocks on earth. The stark Hajar mountains, near the border with Saudi Arabia, contain a chunk of earth’s mantle—a zone that makes up most of earth’s mass, but normally lies inaccessible to humans, far below the surface. Here, though, a sliver…

  • What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    The Obama administration will propose new rules to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. But is “clean coal” technology up to the job?

  • Studying Cutting-Edge Carbon Storage Technologies

    Studying Cutting-Edge Carbon Storage Technologies

    This past June, PhD candidates from Earth Institute’s Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy Miriam Okun and Yinghuang Ji traveled to Alabama to attend Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS), an intensive 10-day program hosted by Southern Company and sponsored by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.  The program allowed participants to study cutting-edge…

  • Artificial Trees: Giving Us Time to Act?

    Artificial Trees: Giving Us Time to Act?

    Soon after Klaus Lackner met Allen Wright at Biosphere 2 in Arizona, they began dreaming up a way to pull CO2 out of the air. After years of work, the two have come up with a working laboratory-scale prototype…