Real buzz about new CO2 monitoring

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If you thought the humble bee was only was useful for keeping your cupboards stocked with honey, then researchers at the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have got news for you.

They have discovered an innovative way to use bees, pollen and helium-filled balloons to verify that no carbon dioxide (CO2) leaks from carbon sequestration sites. These methods can determine environmental impact without the need to disrupt habitats.

The researchers injected chemical tracers at low levels to fingerprint CO2 during storage differentiating it from natural carbon dioxide. Researchers then determine if pollen collected by bees contains measurable quantities of tracer or if the bees bring back tracer from direct contact with foliage.

They placed hives about 150 metres upwind and downwind from a controlled CO2 release source, with a third hive located some distance from the test plot. From there samples of the bees’ pollen that had been taken from the hive were placed, along with sorbent packets, near the hive entrances to monitor hive ventilation gas for tracer. A third monitor was also used and placed about 25 metres away from each hive to account for any background levels of tracer.

By exposing the sorbent in a small packet of sorbent tubes to the atmosphere and then heating them while helium gas flows through them, the tracer is desorbed and analysed.

As part of the test, atmospheric tracer levels were also monitored. Results from the study will be applied to more extensive experiments in atmospheric plume monitoring.