Drilling Begins: Burying Carbon Dioxide Below

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By Holly Zuluaga

Summary

WALLULA-- A new project is testing out storing carbon dioxide underground instead of piping it into the air.

Story Published: Jan 21, 2009 at 6:53 PM PST

WALLULA-- A new project is testing out storing carbon dioxide underground instead of piping it into the air.

The project just started out at the Boise Paper Mill.

"This project started as a small germ of an idea," Pete McGrail said.

That idea has now turned into a three thousand foot drilling shaft.

Battelle scientists think they've found a way to trap carbon dioxide underground instead of letting it just float into the atmosphere.

Now they're taking off the lab coats and pulling out the drills.

In the next few months they'll know if itl works.

"The really important part of this project is to find out how quickly the carbon dioxide is reacting with the basalt at those depths," Pete McGrail said.

If it's all good they'll get the Department of Ecology to sign off on it. It'll be about another year and if half before final results are known.

"We are always optimistic as scientists we think we've got the story covered so we think it will happen," Pete McGrail said.

Battelle is drilling at the Boise Paper Mill. Boise says they got on board because they're down with going green.

"We think it's an exciting project, it has exciting possibilities and has world wide implications as we look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.," Rob Roxburgh said.

That's especially important since this is wine country.

"For every 70,000 cases of wine produced we emit back to the atmosphere about 1,000 tons of CO2," Pete McGrail said.

Battelle tells Action News this science could bring more money to the region.