SEES Workshop: Natural and Engineered Carbon Sequestration

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SEES Workshop: Natural and Engineered Carbon SequestrationBradley Sageman, Northwestern UniversityEAR-1138523ABSTRACT The Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment area was established in FY 2010 in an effort address challenges in climate and energy research and education. The initial RFP encouraged near term activities, such as interdisciplinary workshops, that would help inform the development of SEES activities. This proposal outlines a plan to hold a workshop in association with the 2011 Annual meeting of Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, MN. The objective of this workshop is a community-wide gathering of researchers whose work relates to the natural and engineered components of the global carbon cycle. Given that observational evidence and model predictions suggest that significant global warming is already underway, and the prospect of widespread conversion to low- or no-carbon energy sources is likely many decades in the future, mitigation of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere is a major priority. The development of effective and safe engineered carbon sequestration carries one set of research challenges. Progress in such areas should be matched by improved understanding of natural carbon sequestration processes, largely derived from research on ancient episodes of major perturbation of the carbon cycle (e.g., PETM). The workshop will draw broadly on different research communities in an effort to highlight leading problems and approaches, focus collaborative efforts, germinate proposal concepts, and provide a summary of the major research efforts that are already underway, as well as those that should be initiated.