Layers of volcanic rock in eastern Oregon, the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Basin have created fertile soil for farming and ranching, but in the future it could provide fruitful ground for a whole other industry designed to fight climate change.

Oregon’s state geologist is pitching a novel idea of using the region’s rocky basalt layer – born of lava that flowed millions of years ago from cracks in the Earth’s crust –  to be a bank for storing planet-warming carbon dioxide.

Ruarri Day-Stirrat, state geologist and executive director of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, discussed the potential for geologic carbon sequestration at a State Land Board meeting in Salem last month, and will seek funding to begin investigating potential sites in eastern Oregon. It involves using machines to capture carbon dioxide from the air or to capture it directly from a source like a big livestock operation or a factory, turning it into a solid mineral and storing it in rocky layers deep in the earth. The strategy is still a very new one, and so far not cost-effective or scalable in the fight against climate change. But places like Oregon, Washington and Iceland that have lots of volcanic rock are unique in their potential to store carbon deep underground.

“At the moment, it’s definitely in that seed idea,” Day-Stirrat told the Capital Chronicle. “We want to drill a stratigraphic test well to understand whether it’s even plausible – not even feasible – but plausible.”

At the encouragement of the State Land Board – which includes Gov. Tina Kotek, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade and state Treasurer Tobias Read – he’ll present the idea to the state Legislature in January and start to raise funding.

There’s potential to store more than 14,000 megatons of carbon dioxide in the basalt beneath Oregon and Washington, according to a 2013 U.S. Geological Survey study. That’s equivalent to more than 200 years worth of carbon dioxide emissions from Oregonians and Oregon industry. In eastern Oregon, quite a bit of that rocky layer is deep beneath land owned by the state, which is where Day-Stirrat sees the greatest potential for development.

But it’s expensive to drill and develop a project, and could be counterintuitive to the mission of reducing pollution and slowing climate change if energy must be used to capture the carbon dioxide, mineralize it and to inject it into the ground. Modeling from the En-ROADS simulator developed by the nonprofit Climate Interactive and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that direct carbon capture and storage is not the most effective way to spend money in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it would be far more effective in the next 75 years to spend money to decarbonize the energy sector and to tax polluters. 

“We should be investigating a lot of different solutions. And yes, each project has more or less cost. And at the moment, we’re probably doing all the cheap ones, and they’re cheap for a reason,” Day-Stirrat said.

Northwest projects

Some direct air capture and geologic carbon storage projects are already underway. In the Dalles, Google is building its own $20 million direct carbon capture facility. The University of Wyoming is also running a test project near Hermiston, with more than $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to eventually capture carbon dioxide emissions from a natural gas plant, mineralize them and inject them into underground basalt. 

In those facilities, a chemical filter grabs or locks carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and holds onto it until it is isolated, turned to a solid and then injected into the earth.

Test projects are also happening in Washington, and a consortium that includes the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based climate nonprofit, and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries is trying to create a direct carbon capture and storage hub in the Northwest.

To initiate a project in eastern Oregon, Day-Stirrat said his agency needs to be able to drill more than 3,500 feet beneath the ground to see how deep the water table is, where water flow zones are and if there are any plausible areas to store mineralized carbon and if it’s possible to get the mineralized carbon that deep. Standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency do not allow any geologic carbon sequestration to happen in an area where water could be compromised, Day-Stirrat said. 

“Direct air capture still has a ways to go. But there’s a lot of research and development money going into understanding the technology and what the scale up globally could look like,” he said. 

Day-Stirrat, 45, said he expects in his lifetime to see it used as a tool for reducing emissions and slowing the worst outcomes of climate change.

“I’d be disappointed if it doesn’t,” he said.

On Monday at 8:32 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory in effect until Tuesday at 10 a.m. for South Central Oregon Cascades and Siskiyou Mountains and Southern Oregon Cascades.

The weather service says to anticipate, “Snow above 5000 feet. Additional snow accumulations between 3 and 6 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.”

“Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday morning commute,” adds the weather service. “Slow down and use caution while traveling.”

Winter driving guide: Tips from the weather service for safe and sound travels

Winter’s icy grip often turns roads treacherous, leading to over 6,000 weather-related vehicle fatalities and more than 480,000 injuries each year. When you find yourself on snowy or freezing rain-slicked roads, your top priority should be safety. Slow down and exercise caution. In temperatures near freezing, it’s prudent to assume icy patches on the road and adjust your driving accordingly. Be on alert for ice accumulating on power lines and tree branches, as they may break and fall. If possible, avoid driving in these conditions altogether. But if you must venture out, choose routes with fewer trees and power lines, and never touch a downed power line. If you encounter one, dial 911 immediately. Here are additional winter weather driving tips:

Share your travel plans:

When traveling out of town in hazardous winter weather, inform your family or friends of your destination, planned route, and estimated time of arrival.

Prepare your vehicle:

Ensure your gas tank is full and equip your vehicle with essential winter supplies, including a windshield scraper, jumper cables, a small shovel, flashlight, cell phone, blanket, extra warm clothing, drinking water, and high-calorie non-perishable food.

Stay calm when stranded:

If you become stranded, stay composed. Notify someone about your situation and location. Avoid attempting to walk to safety. Attach a cloth to your car’s antenna or mirror to signal that you require assistance. Make your vehicle more visible by using the dome light and flashers.

Be mindful of snow plows:

Keep an eye out for snow plows and allow them ample room to pass. Only overtake a plow when you have a clear view of the road ahead.

Check road conditions:

Before embarking on your journey, verify the current road conditions to make informed travel decisions.

These winter driving tips from the weather service are your key to a safer journey on snow-covered roads. By following these guidelines, you can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and ensure your well-being during challenging winter weather.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.

With three games left in the season, the 4-5 Oregon State State Beavers need to win two in order to reach the postseason. For now, Beavers’ head coach Trent Bray is keeping his team focused on the challenge that a trip to the Air Force Academy presents and what lessons there are to learn from last week’s loss to San Jose State.

Bray met with the media this week to discuss what’s ahead for OSU and how his younger players can continue to get better. Watch the full presser below.

NOTES

-Reviewing the San Jose State game: “After watching the film of the San Jose State game, it was a lot like I thought. I thought we moved the ball pretty well, but just stubbed our toe in the red zone. Four drives in the red zone and we only get three points out of them. That’s a problem so we got to
be better in the Red Zone. Would have changed that game. And same thing with the explosive plays over our head in the back end on defense we we can’t allow that to happen to play the way we want.”

-Ben Gulbranson will continue to be the starting quarterback, moving forward.

-On Salahadin Allah’s development: “As you go through the season you get more and more work and more and more reps in practice and in games. You become a better player…I thought he played well and had some really good runs and still had some runs that, you know, we need him to break that he could have. So I’m excited about where he’s at and his progression.”

-On the morale of the team currently after a 4-5 start: “You watch us practice and you wouldn’t know what our record is. Which is great to come to work with those guys every day. We are process oriented and getting those guys to buy into the results will come as we continue to do the right process. It’s frustrating right now and there’s some things that are painful but we stick to the process and we’ll continue to get better and in the long run it’ll help us.”

-On improvements to the run defense: “It’s more guys just getting better, more experience in the system. I think early on in the run game problems were a lot of misfit issues. I think the players have done a great job. Coaches have done a good job of of just continuing to coach those guys and they’re starting to figure it out and play faster because they they know how to play off the front and I think a lot of that showed up.”

-On defending a triple option offense: “If you’re going to take away the inside part of it, there’s always things out on the perimeter as well. And so there it creates one-on-one plays. Whenever you have one-on-one tackles that have to be made, you break a couple tackles, they make you miss, and it’s an explosive play. So that’s what these offenses do. They make it a one-on-one game for most of the game.”

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