Abstract
To ensure the safety of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, insight into the potential impacts of CO2 leakage on the ecosystem is necessary. We conducted a greenhouse experiment to investigate the effects of high soil CO2 on plant growth and the soil environment. Treatments comprised 99.99% CO2 injection (CG), 99.99% N2injection (NG), and no injection (BG). NG treatment was employed to differentiate the effects of O2 depletion from those of CO2 enrichment. Soil CO2 and O2 concentrations were maintained at an average of 53% and 11%, respectively, under CG treatment. We verified that high soil CO2 had negative effects on root water absorption, chlorophyll, starch content and total biomass. Soil microbial acid phosphatase activity was affected by CG treatment. These negative effects were attributed to high soil CO2 instead of low O2 or low pH. Our results indicate that high soil CO2 affected the root system, which in turn triggered further changes in aboveground plant tissues and rhizospheric soil water conditions. A conceptual diagram of CO2 toxicity to plants and soil is suggested to act as a useful guideline for impact assessment of CCS technology.
Highlights
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is considered an important strategy for mitigating climate change (IPCC, 2014)
Constant CO2 concentrations were maintained throughout the injection period indicating that our incubation system was sufficiently stable to investigate the effects of high soil CO2 on plant growth
The total nitrogen (TN) content of the roots was higher in the CG than in the BG treatment, while there were similar TN and lower total phosphorus (TP) contents in the CG plant leaves compared with the BG leaves (Table 4). These results indicated that nitrogen transport from the roots to the leaves was inhibited by high soil CO2 concentration
Summary
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is considered an important strategy for mitigating climate change (IPCC, 2014). The most relevant CO2leakage could occur in storage reservoirs via faults, fractures or boreholes (Pearce et al, 2014; Vrålstad et al, 2018). As CO2 would likely be transported to storage sites through long pipelines, leakage could occur via corrosion and connection failures of shallow pipes (European Communities, 2011; Fu & Gundersen, 2012; Pearce et al, 2014). Soil could experience high CO2 concentrations between 40% and 95% for a period of time (Beaubien et al, 2008; Al-Traboulsi et al, 2012; Lake et al, 2013; Paulley et al, 2013). Surrounding plants and soil microbes could be influenced by high concentration of soil CO2 and the concomitant low pH and reduced proportions of O2 andN2
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