Climate science was not on Grace Brown’s mind when she decided to attend Barnard. 高级, 在韦斯特菲尔德长大的人, 新泽西, had always gravitated toward outdoor conservation activities. Yet when she came to Barnard, she was considering majoring in political science. Her environmental studies courses 和 Barnard’s access to 哥伦比亚大学气候学院 把布朗引入了一个新的学术探索领域.
去年春天, 当布朗, 谁现在是环境科学专业的学生, 在为她的毕业论文找一个项目吗, she asked for suggestions from her professor 和 adviser, 马丁Stute, the Alena Wels Hirschorn ’58 和 Martin Hirschorn Professor in Environmental 和 Applied Sciences 和 the co-chair of the 环境科学系. Stute is a leader in the area of hydrology 和 groundwater studies 和 has also been advancing a pivotal climate science research 和 development area: 碳捕集与封存.
斯图特需要帮助， 阿曼备受瞩目的项目. He brought in Brown, who only needed to go as far as Palisades, New York, 和 哥伦比亚的拉蒙特-多尔蒂地球天文台 成为突破性科学的一部分. 曾经遥不可及的目标, 碳捕集与封存 — using science to remove carbon dioxide from the air 和 then stow it safely away — is now considered an important, 新兴技术, 对帮助减少温室气体排放至关重要, 哪一个, 反过来, 能帮助解决更大的气候变化危机吗.
在这个“关于……的5个问题,” Stute 和 Brown talk about the Oman project 和 the promise of carbon capture.
与斯图特教授对话:
碳捕获和封存涉及到什么?
为了限制影响 气候变化，我们不仅要削减我们的 温室气体排放 (主要是 CO2 和 CH4) but also take out some of these gases that we have put into the atmosphere. 碳的形式是 CO2 和 CH4, 可以在源头捕获吗, for example — at a power plant or directly from the air — 和 then stored in plants, 工业原料, 或者在地下的毛孔和空洞中. 我正在研究一种最安全的储存方式 CO2 在地下使用一个过程称为 碳矿化，其中 CO2 is dissolved in water, pumped into reactive rocks such as 玄武岩，其中 CO2 is then converted to solid carbonate minerals, similar to limestone. I was part of an international team that demonstrated this process in a field application in 冰岛.
阿曼到底发生了什么事，十大电竞游戏综合排名又是怎么牵扯进来的?
这个项目是一个大型项目的一部分 国际研究项目 that explores the geochemistry 和 microbiology of an ancient uplifted seafloor in the desert of Oman. Besides being used to study basic biogeochemical processes, 这个地层也可以储存大量的 CO2类似于冰岛的玄武岩. A key question of the study is how fast water circulates in this formation. 我们的研究是由 国家科学基金会 (NSF), in collaboration with California State University, Sacramento, 和 the 阿曼钻井项目 — uses substances naturally occurring in groundwater at very low concentrations called “tracers,，比如放射性碳, 氚, 惰性气体, to determine how long the water has been underground 和 how fast it moves. This information is crucial for determining chemical reaction rates 和 how this formation could be used for CO2 存储.
How far are we from removing carbon dioxide from the air 和 storing it away safely?
捕获和存储量大 CO2 资源很好理解，经济上可行. Free-air capture is still expensive; large-scale demonstrations must be developed 和 deployed.
However, many commercial 碳捕集与封存 plants are now operating worldwide. 事实上，一家初创公司打电话给 44.01该公司去年获得了该奖项 Earthshot奖 — a competition that recognizes 和 supports solutions to the world’s environmental challenges — has begun experimental CO2 阿曼注射. All this is not to say that 碳捕集与封存 is the silver bullet that will solve our greenhouse gas problem. 这只是一种方法 需要采取措施 if we want to limit the worst effects of 气候变化. We still need to move to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible 和 transition to a sustainable economy.
进入实验室，参与研究, 即使是一点点, has shown me that researchers are working hard to underst和 what we need to do to limit the threat of 气候变化 和 how we can do this in practice.
与布朗的谈话:
What surprised you most about the Oman project 和 your work in support of it?
去年夏天, we spent a lot of time in the lab modifying our different analytical instruments to enable us to develop techniques specific to measuring samples 和 collecting data for the project. While this kind of method development is a large part of the research process, I was surprised to get this kind of behind-the-scenes look at the more technical aspects of scientific instrumentation.
I [also] hadn’t realized how students can get involved with 和 contribute directly to groundbreaking projects at Barnard 和 within the 环境科学系. I’ve found that through the senior thesis 和 other opportunities available to us, students are really able to make an impact 和 contribute to extremely relevant research. 这是非常令人兴奋和有益的.
Does being so involved with emerging research make you more hopeful about the potential to lessen the threat of 气候变化?
是的，我对未来更有希望了. 进入实验室，参与研究, 即使是一点点, has shown me that researchers are working hard to underst和 what we need to do to limit the threat of 气候变化 和 how we can do this in practice. I think a major factor contributing to pessimism about 气候变化 is the feeling that there’s nothing we can do about it, so I [am] much more optimistic when I can take action.
