carbon capture Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Could the Northwest’s basalt rocks help slow climate change?

By Courtney Flatt May 30, 2023

A women in a blue and red plaid shirt stands in front of a blue river. She is holding two gray rocks on top of each other. in the background, on the other side of the river, there are rocky hills and a blue sky.

Casie Davidson, a scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, points out how basalt rocks are layered on top of each other. The rocks formed millions of years ago after volcanic […]Read More

Inland Northwest Trees Are Playing An Outsized Role In Curbing Climate Change, Study Says

By Jes Burns November 12, 2020

Thinning, mowing and prescribed fire are used in Ponderosa pine forests to maintain an open forest floor. CREDIT: Jes Burns/OPB/EarthFix

New research suggests that a U.S. Forest Service proposal to allow the cutting of larger trees on public lands east of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington will have an outsized impact on forest carbon storage in the Pacific Northwest.Read More

Climate Stewardship Connects Eastern Washington Faith And Farming To Legislative Action In Olympia

By Courtney Flatt March 5, 2020

Church members at Richland’s Shalom United Church of Christ sing environmental hymns during a service on Feb. 9, 2020, that addressed environmental issues, such as climate change. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB

Climate change isn’t a new topic for progressive churches like Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland. But it is perhaps tinged with new urgency. Survey results from the Pew Research Center show that congregations are delving into environmental awareness recently. And so are farmers.Read More

Developers Of This New ‘Battery’ Are Trying To Spark A Carbon Capture Revolution

By PBS Newshour November 17, 2019

A cross-section of an electroswing adsorber, which is essentially an electrochemical cell — that is, a battery. The battery has two active (negative) electrodes on the outside and a positive (counter) electrode in the middle (red). When electricity runs into the battery, the active layers, which are covered with quinone, collect CO2 from the surrounding air. Image by Sahag Voskian

Carbon capture technology is slowly being integrated into energy and industrial facilities across the globe. Typically set up to collect carbon from an exhaust stream, this technology sops up greenhouse gases before they spread into Earth’s airways.Read More

In Wyoming, A Contest To Capture Carbon And Save Coal

By NPR News March 6, 2019

Jason Salfi, left, and Dr. David Erickson, right, of Dimensional Energy, are finalists in the Carbon XPRIZE. They stand in front of the Dry Fork Station coal-fired power plant in Gillette, Wyo., where the competition is located. CREDIT: COOPER MCKIM/WYOMING PUBLIC RADIO

Moving our energy sources away from fossil fuels to renewables is the most common go-to in mitigating climate change, but climate experts say more is needed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report says keeping global temperatures within a livable range would be too expensive without carbon capture. Read More