In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration ? 1. Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams 2. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs 3. Subterranean deep saline formations Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- A.1 and 2 only
- B.3 only
- C.1 and 3 only
- D.1, 2 and 3
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, 1, 2 and 3. All three are geological traps where captured carbon dioxide can be pumped and stored deep underground.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) takes carbon dioxide from power plants or factories, compresses it and injects it into rock formations that can hold it for thousands of years. Coal seams that cannot be mined profitably adsorb CO2 on the coal surface, and the process can even push out methane for use (enhanced coal bed methane recovery). Depleted oil and gas fields already held fluids under a cap rock for millions of years, and injecting CO2 can also squeeze out leftover oil. Deep saline aquifers, porous rocks filled with salty water far below drinking-water levels, offer the largest storage capacity of all.
A, B and C are wrong because each leaves out at least one valid storage site.
Exam tip: geological CO2 storage sites = unmineable coal seams, depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline aquifers.
Practice Questions
View allArtificial way of causing rainfall to reduce air pollution makes use of
- A.silver iodide and potassium iodide
- B.silver nitrate and potassium iodide
- C.silver iodide and potassium nitrate
- D.silver nitrate and potassium chloride
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These salts are the usual seeding agents in cloud seeding, the artificial way to make rain. Cloud seeding sprays tiny particles into clouds that already hold moisture, from aircraft, rockets or ground generators.
Read the full explanation →As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in India, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A.Waste generator has to segregate waste into five categories.
- B.The Rules are applicable to notified urban local bodies, notified towns and all industrial townships only.
- C.The Rules provide for exact and elaborate criteria for the identification of sites for landfills and waste processing facilities.
- D.It is mandatory on the part of waste generator that the waste generated in one district cannot be moved to another district.
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The 2016 Rules set out detailed criteria for choosing sites for landfills and waste processing facilities. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, replaced the Municipal Solid Wastes Rules of 2000.
Read the full explanation →Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a standard criterion for
- A.Measuring oxygen levels in blood
- B.Computing oxygen levels in forest ecosystems
- C.Pollution assay in aquatic ecosystems
- D.Assessing oxygen levels in high altitude regions
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BOD tells how much organic pollution a body of water carries. Biological, or biochemical, Oxygen Demand is the amount of dissolved oxygen that aerobic micro-organisms use up while breaking down the organic matter in a water sample, usually measured over five days at 20 degrees Celsius and expressed in milligrams…
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements : The Environment Protection Act, 1986 empowers the Government of India to 1. state the requirement of public participation in the process of environmental protection, and the procedure and manner in which it is sought 2. lay down the standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various sources Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
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The Act empowers the Centre to set emission and discharge standards, but it says nothing about public participation. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 was passed after the Bhopal gas tragedy as an umbrella law under Article 253, to give effect to the decisions of the 1972 Stockholm Conference.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following activities : 1. Spreading finely ground basalt rock on farmlands extensively 2. Increasing the alkalinity of oceans by adding lime 3. Capturing carbon dioxide released by various industries and pumping it into abandoned subterranean mines in the form of carbonated waters How many of the above activities are often considered and discussed for carbon capture and sequestration?
- A.Only one
- B.Only two
- C.All three
- D.None
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Each activity is a recognised way of pulling carbon dioxide out of circulation and locking it away.
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