Is geosequestration really an option?

There was an article in The Age this morning talking about the potential health hazards of a carbon waste dump as compared to a nuclear waste dump. The basic argument was the author would prefer to live on a nuclear waste dump because at it could be monitored.

The carbon waste dump he was referring to was a site that was used for carbon geosequestration, and his conclusion was that all the investment in 'clean coal technology' could amount to nothing because the technology is not proven and it could create other problems over the long term. In his mind, it was better to go with nuclear.

Putting aside the issue of nuclear and if it is an alternative or not, I too have issues with carbon geosequestration. In a nut shell, my issues pivot on the reason we are seeking geosequestration as a solution: when we started producing more carbon dioxide we never thought that a natural chemical could create a problem, let alone a problem of this scale.

About a 100 years ago we realised that by burning fossil fuels (coal) we could create large amounts of energy and produce goods on a much larger and cheaper scale. In our not-so-infinite wisdom we have done this in increasing volumes ever since and pumped layer upon layer of carbon into the atmosphere. In over 100 years, it has only been in the last 30, and in particular the last 10, that we realised this created a problem. So now, to fix the problem we are proposing pumping carbon dioxide underground where C02 is also a natural chemical.

Is it just me, or does it seem like we haven't learned the lesson of why we are in this mess to begin with? How long will it be before the sequested C02 gathers in such a quantity that it starts to change the formation of rock, alters the properties of soil or does something to our table water? To be honest, I think the issue of 'leaking' is our least concern.

And in all this, I can't help but remember a Simpsons episode where Homer is Mayor and he has a problem with all the trash being generated by Springfield; in his infinite wisdom, he decides to dump all the trash in the volcano. Of course everyone loved him, it was a great idea, until there was too much trash and the volcano erupted, spitting all the trash back onto Springfield...

How long do we really think it will it be before our 'great idea' becomes another problem and Mother Nature spews our trash back at us?