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Earth and Atmospheric Science
Americans continue to use more renewable energy sources
Americans used more natural gas, solar panels and wind turbines and less coal to generate electricity in 2012, according to the most recent U.S. energy charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory . Each year, the Laboratory releases energy flow charts that track the nation's consumption of energy resources. Natural gas use is up particularly in the…
Livermore develops the world's deepest ERT imaging system for CO2 sequestration
LIVERMORE, Calif.-- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have broken the record for tracking the movement and concentration of carbon dioxide in a geologic formation using the world's deepest Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) system.The research provides insight into the effects of geological sequestration to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases.The…
Livermore scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces 'supergreen' hydrogen fuel, offsets ocean acidification
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.The team demonstrated, at a laboratory scale, a system that uses the acidity normally produced in saline water…
Research shows humans are primary cause of global ocean warming over past 50 years
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The oceans have warmed in the past 50 years, but not by natural events alone. New research by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and international collaborators shows that the observed ocean warming over the last 50 years is consistent with climate models only if the models include the impacts of observed increases in…
Guilderson takes the guess work out of climate change
Climate change and the carbon cycle are tied so closely that geochemist Tom Guilderson can study an isotope of carbon and find out how the climate has varied in the past, how rapidly it changed and the external and internal factors that may have affected it. That was the subject of Guilderson's talk "Radiocarbon: Chronometer and Geochemical Tracer of the Carbon Cycle,"…
Separating signal and noise in climate warming
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- In order to separate human-caused global warming from the "noise" of purely natural climate fluctuations, temperature records must be at least 17 years long, according to climate scientists. To address criticism of the reliability of thermometer records of surface warming, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists analyzed satellite…
Increased production of smelly sulfur compound in Southern Ocean tied to climate change
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- An organic compound that smells like cabbage and has been called the "smell of the sea" could be more sensitive to global climate change than commonly believed. In a recent report, a Livermore researcher, along with colleagues from Los Alamos and Oak Ridge national laboratories and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, found through…
Learning from climate's sedimental journey
By analyzing sediments up to 4,000 years old, Susan Zimmerman is hoping to provide a tool to help predict future climate change.Ancient records of what was happening with climate conditions can be used with regional climate models to tell a story of what happened in the past and to correlate it to the present and the future. Current models typically use data only for the…
Report gives carbon sequestration framework
The Laboratory's Julio Friedmann, in collaboration with the Center for American Progress, the Asia Society Center and the Monitor Group, on Wednesday released the report, "A Roadmap for U.S.-China Collaboration on Carbon Capture and Sequestration."The report provides a framework for long-term bilateral cooperation in the development and use of carbon capture and…
Funds injected into carbon sequestration effort
The Laboratory has received $3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars to capture and transport 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from Bay Area power plants and inject it more than two miles underground.Laboratory researchers will collaborate with Lawrence Berkeley and C6 Resources, a Shell Oil Company affiliate, on the carbon sequestration project.The…
Underground testing for carbon sequestration
Who would be willing to pay a higher energy bill to help save the planet? Roger Aines would. And he’s doing his part to lend a hand to the planet by spearheading a Laboratory effort that looks at sequestering carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) — produced by coal or natural gas power plants — in geological formations in Montana and Wyoming. Aines’ project is part of Phase III of the…
Livermore Lab and American Shale Oil team to study carbon sequestration
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, announced today that they have entered into a technical cooperation agreement to develop carbon sequestration technologies for in ground shale oil production processes.Specifically, LLNL will partner with AMSO to study how to use depleted…
DDLS presentation dives into carbon sequestration in ocean depths
Chemical experiments in the deep sea will be discussed in depth when Peter Brewer, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, presents the next Director’s Distinguished Lecturer Series. The talk takes place at 3:30 p.m., Monday, March 12, in the Bldg. 123 auditorium.The initial work of Brewer and his colleagues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research…
