[Terrapreta] 20 million artificial trees to scrub CO2

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi Lorenzo,

I've read about Dr. Wallace Broecker recently again (I think it was on the TED Talks site) and for sometime now.  He is not a crackpot.  His ideas could in all likelihood work.  Building these devices, whose technology is based on that used in submarines to "recycle" CO2 out of the air and make the air breathable again in those enclosed spaces, is entirely workable.  The operating costs of these devices may be even more costly than building the cost of the capital equipment to do it.  Compressing CO2 into liquid and pumping it into geo-sinks would be very energy intensive, even if you could find enough of those geo-sinks.  Making CO2 into minerals is like making limestone or bicarbonate of soda from CO2 and calcium or CO2 and sodium.  This, too, is possible, yes, but sourcing the raw calcium or raw sodium would also be costly and energy intensive, not to mention that the sources for these are from the minerals (after the CO2 is released) that we would want to be putting the CO2 into to make!
Making portland cement released from limestone releases enormous amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The most important point that Dr. Broeker makes I think, is pointing out the seriousness of the problem; that is the increasing rate of increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.  He is, I think, absolutely right in his assessment that CO2 concentrations are currently at dangerous levels and are rising precipitously.  The other point I think he is correct about is that political will to even see or deal with this problem is practically non-existent.  But, his plan could be a good "stop-gap" mitigation strategy.

Why he gets air on BBC ... I know he has a money-bags investor who is backing the development of the types of systems he is proposing.

Dr. Wallace Broeker would be a great ally for those of us who are trying to promote Terra Preta Nova.  We should try to contact him about this.

Regards,

SKB

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Laurens Rademakers<mailto:lrademakers at biopact.com> 
  To: terra Preta<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 2:36 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] 20 million artificial trees to scrub CO2


  Here, an idea that directly competes with terra preta; the artificial tree idea ...
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