Report Title:

CO2 Emissions; Sequestrian of CO2 Experiment

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted into the atmosphere has greatly increased over the past decades, primarily as a result of burning fossil fuels worldwide; and

WHEREAS, atmospheric CO₂ is a greenhouse gas that has the ability to absorb the energy radiated or reflected from the Earth, thus acting as a thermal blanket; and

WHEREAS, growing scientific evidence suggests that increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases could trigger widespread climatic change and other serious environmental consequences, collectively known as Global Warming; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii would be gravely exposed to some potential effects of Global Warming, such as sea level rise, changes in the frequency and strength of severe storms and loss of bio-diversity; and

WHEREAS, international treaties such as the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol call for industrialized nations to sharply reduce their greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, the United States is a signatory of both the FCCC, which was ratified, and the Kyoto Protocol; and

WHEREAS, the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) was established in 1995 by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to enhance the use of existing and new climate-friendly technologies through international collaboration in research, development, deployment and information dissemination; and

WHEREAS, improvements in the efficiency of energy use, the substitution of lower-carbon fuels, and the development of renewable sources of energy represent preferable approaches to reduce man-made emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere; and

WHEREAS, the worldwide use of fossil fuels in developing and developed countries, with forecasts of a growing global population, is nevertheless expected to increase sharply in this century; and

WHEREAS, the United States is the largest producer of atmospheric CO₂; and

WHEREAS, other possible technologies that have been conceptually outlined to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should be evaluated in a rigorously scientific fashion; several of these technologies are based on the separation and disposal (sequestration) of anthropogenic CO₂ into natural reservoirs other than the atmosphere; and,

WHEREAS, one sequestration technology calls for the disposal of anthropogenic CO₂ into the deep ocean (ocean carbon sequestration); and

WHEREAS, the deep ocean has by far the largest capacity to act as a carbon reservoir; and

WHEREAS, most of the excess atmospheric CO₂ will be transferred to the deep ocean via slow natural phenomena over several centuries, limited by the laws of physics and chemistry; and

WHEREAS, in December 1997, the Governments of the United States, Japan, and Norway signed an international project agreement under the CTI; the project was defined as an ocean field experiment aimed at advancing the scientific knowledge pertaining to ocean carbon sequestration; and

WHEREAS, the Governments of Canada and Australia, as well as ABB of Switzerland and CRIEPI of Japan later joined the aforementioned international project agreement calling for a Sequestration of CO₂ Field Experiment; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii is a key participant in the Sequestration of CO₂ Field Experiment; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR), based in Honolulu, was selected as the general contractor for the Sequestration of CO₂ Field Experiment; and

WHEREAS, the SequestratiOn of CO₂ Field Experiment is a small-scale, short-term project to be conducted at a depth of approximately one-half mile or more in the deep ocean surrounding Hawaii, and will collect valuable scientific information needed to better evaluate the effectiveness and potential environmental effects of ocean carbon sequestration; and

WHEREAS, extensive laboratory tests and computer simulations have been conducted for many years by scientists in the participating countries, and the collective judgment of the international group is that the experiments as designed will have only minimal and transient effects on the ocean environment as documented in the Environmental Assessment; and

WHEREAS, manned and unmanned deep water submersibles together with fixed underwater instrumentation will monitor the experiments and gather invaluable scientific data to fine tune the computer models for future studies; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii was selected to host the two-week long Sequestration of CO₂ Field Experiment, based on very favorable bathymetric and other environmental data; and

WHEREAS, conducting the Sequestration of CO₂ Field Experiment in Hawaii will contribute to Hawaii’s role as a center for climate change research, where other important international collaborations are already taking place, especially at the University of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the safety and well-being of future generations in Hawaii and world wide may be seriously threatened by Global Warming unless the effects of atmospheric C02 are mitigated; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, the effects of increasing atmospheric CO₂ on the people and environment of our State is of deep concern, particularly Global Warming; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the efforts of the Governments of the United States, Japan, Norway, Canada, and Australia to seriously address these issues by conducting a scientifically sound and environmentally safe study of CO₂ Sequestration in the deep ocean are strongly supported; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the resources and cooperation of the State of Hawaii shall made available to contribute, in conformance with the laws of State of Hawaii, to this worthy international effort to curb the threat of Global Warming for the safety and well being of future generations of our people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority.