Prospects for containment

　While analysis is progressing, there are also prospects for the future. “The coal strata off the Shimokita Peninsula were divided in many layers. While coal has a quality that allows for easy absorption of carbon dioxide, it is by nature also virtually impermeable. Between the coal strata on the other hand, are sand strata with many cracks. Technologies will be developed in future to contain the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in this environment called coal-bearing strata. Carbon dioxide that is brought underground will perhaps be changed into natural gas (methane) by microorganisms. Or maybe it will turn into carbonate mineral and harden the strata. In order to investigate this we need to install sensors inside the borehole and monitor how carbon dioxide which is injected experimentally spreads.” Inagaki is concerned that underground carbon, which goes through a slow cycle on a massive timescale, is turned into carbon dioxide by people burning oil with extraordinary vigor, and vented into the atmosphere. “The world on the surface and the world below work on two completely different timescales. If humans destroy that, than it will only be humans who can reverse that.” There is a link between organisms and coal that lie underground off the Shimokita Peninsula. The success by the 2012 drilling survey and its research is one step on the way to this dreamlike carbon and energy cycling system.