Carbonated sea test
resurfaces

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By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

A site more than three miles off Nawiliwili, Kauai, is being considered for an experiment to put carbon dioxide into deep water in a study on lessening the impact of global warming, says one of the lead scientists for the international project.

The site, outside state waters, is one of the Environmental Protection Agency's designated areas for dumping dredge materials, said Gerard Nihous of the Pacific International Center for High-Technology Research in Honolulu.

"That doesn't mean we can just do it," he said, explaining that the project cannot proceed unless it meets standards and complies with all environmental laws.

The high-tech renewable-energy company is general contractor for the project, sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department with international partners. The goal is to test whether carbon dioxide could be stored in the ocean to reduce global warming and other adverse consequences of fossil fuel burning.

It was proposed two years ago in the ocean about 1.5 miles off Kona's Keahole Point, then abandoned in the midst of controversy about whether it would be harmful to marine animals.

The Department of Energy listed three potential alternate sites, Nihous said. The others were off Oahu's southwest coast and off Kawaihae on the Big Island.

Nihous attended a discussion yesterday on ocean carbon sequestration or storage at a weeklong ocean sciences meeting at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

Speakers were Kenneth Caldeira of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; James P. Barry of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California; Jorge L. Sarmiento, with the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program at Princeton University; and Lara Hansen, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.

Caldeira noted that Americans are producing about 35 pounds of carbon dioxide per person every day, which is being absorbed at the ocean surface where most marine life and coral reefs are.

He said the overall question is whether ocean storage of carbon dioxide would be useful in reducing society's negative impact on the global environment. "No one thinks it's the whole answer," he said.

Barry described adverse effects of deep-ocean experiments exposing caged marine animals to pools of carbon dioxide off Monterey Bay. And Hansen outlined ethical and legal ramifications of proposals to inject carbon dioxide into the ocean.

Nonetheless, the scientists emphasized that continued research is necessary to find solutions to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

"The task is not to give up," said Nihous. "Without research, without data collection, we're talking about something we don't know enough about."

He said the amount of carbon dioxide to be released in the Hawaii experiment has been reduced and would be spread over 10 days at half-mile depths.

Cages with sea life will be fixed to a remotely operated vehicle or small manned submersible to observe the effects of droplets of carbon dioxide into the water, he said.

The experiment must be planned for two weeks to mobilize ships and support and allow for bad weather, Nihous said, adding that scientists hope it can be done this year.

The Department of Energy has given the project leaders a "to do" list, including monitoring the animals and their behavior, he said. However, he said, it is a "much less favorable" site for data collection than the one off Keahole.