Carbon sequestration...latest in bad ideas ?

[Shannow]

When Carbone (or more accurately CO2) sequestration was first announced as an emerging technology, I didn't like it.

Having read of those couple of dams that released their stored CO2, and killed every animal for kilometers, I considered the risks to be too great to store the stuff underground. A spontaneous release could be more devastating than a nuke strike in terms of numbers killed.

Another factor was brought to my attention yesterday...and it's obvious.

Every atom of carbon that's sequestered also takes with it 2 atoms of oxygen, essentially forever.

 

[MarkC]

And for added variety, now we must consider what the results will be as more permafrost melts, releasing the gases trapped within for millenia. Maybe nothing, maybe more....

 

[Kestas]

We already have a way to dealing with carbon dioxide. It's called trees and plants. They've already done studies to determine what happens when a tree is exposed to more CO2.... it grows more!

Why go through these Herculean efforts to deal with CO2, when it is naturally taken care of? What needs to be taken care of is man's unlimited desires and consumption.

 

[55Test]

Looks like there's not enough trees to handle the CO2 load, and as the world's population keeps expanding, there'll be even less trees and plants left to handle increasing CO2 levels.

 

[mcrn]

I'm with you Kestas. There was an interview with the head climatologist from MIT that explained everything. I wish I could find the interview online. If I do I will post it.

 

[moribundman]

The amount of deforestation is shocking. Here's an informative web page.

 

[Matt_S]

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The amount of deforestation is shocking. Here's an informative web page.

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If we can deal with this problem globally and replace some of what's been lost, we'll go a long way toward reducing the CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

 

[Bret Chase]

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Looks like there's not enough trees to handle the CO2 load, and as the world's population keeps expanding, there'll be even less trees and plants left to handle increasing CO2 levels.

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phytoplankton in the ocean remove about 9x more CO2 from the air than land plants do.

 

[oilyriser]

There's a greenhouse in Ontario that uses carbon sequestration and recovery, in their heating system. They run their heaters during the day, sending the exhaust into the greenhouse where it gets used by the plants, and storing the heat for later use.

 

[moribundman]

I'm looking forward to sailing waterworld then.

 

[Shannow]

Bret,
I agree on the phytoplankton, but they live in predominantly a cool climate. As the "tropical" bands move North and South, they'll be squeezed also into a smaller area in which they can survive.

Soylent Green may have been close to the mark on climate change and plankton.

 

[moribundman]

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Soylent Green may have been close to the mark on climate change and plankton.

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... and overpopulation. Bon appetit!

 

[oilyriser]

greeeen

Maybe garbage protein can be done, too.

 

[moribundman]

I'd rather eat capybara.

 

[MarkC]

Giant, aquatic guinea pigs can't possibly taste very good.

 

[moribundman]

Capy beats leaf protein and lipids isolated from water hyacinth -- I think...

 

[Shannow]

As to the ascertion that plants can fix it...CO2 levels have risen 50% in the last measurable time period, indicating that they can't absorb what we are currently producing.

Yep, plants grow harder, but obviously not hard enough.

 

[oilyriser]

I just finished cleaning the condensor coil of a fridge that needs to be sequestered up the body part of the engineer who designed it.

 

[H2GURU]

"They" are just trying to make the use of coal as an energy source more pleasant for you. "They know that you know the downside of burning coal so "They" are just answering your question before you ask it! It is a good management tool and fools most people.

 

[Dan4510]

C02 levels have gone from .002% to .004%, wow now I am worried. We will all die from too much C02.