If the CO2 is simply vented into the atmosphere, global warming will be as big a problem as ever. In Norway, for example, the energy company Norsk Hydro is building a power plant that will be fueled with hydrogen drawn from natural gas. The CO2 that's left over will be reinjected into an oil field on the continental shelf. Not only will this take the carbon dioxide out of circulation but it will also pressurize the field and make the remaining oil easier to pump out. In Europe and the U.S., pumping CO2 into underground aquifers has proved an effective way of keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Wind has the edge.
It's fast catching up with oil and gas in cost efficiency with the help of experiments such as the one at Ames Research Center. By comparing what they learn from the wind tunnel's smooth airflow with data from the turbulent breezes at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's test range near Golden, Colorado, engineers expect to build a new generation of superefficient wind turbines with blades well over 200 ft. The best way to do that, says Robert Williams, of Princeton University's Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, is to use the excess to compress air and force it into subterranean aquifers, caves or salt domes. Then, when the wind dies, the compressed air can be pulled out to help drive the turbines. Now it could permit countries rich in wind resources including China, the U.S., Denmark and Germany to take advantage of a free, unlimited and nearly pollution-less source of electricity.