Artificial trees that draw CO2 out of the atmosphere – the latest CO2 insanity
The WaPo reports:
100,000 Synthetic Trees Could Help Combat Climate Change
March 09, 2009: The field of geo-engineeringhas launched all kinds of outlandish ideas for combating climate change, from dumping iron into the world’s oceansto shooting mirrors into space. A report published last Thursday from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) suggested that a forest of 100,000 artificial “trees” could be “planted” near depleted oil and gas reserves to trap carbon in a filter and bury it underground. The carbon suckerslook more like fly swatters than actual arbors, but researchers say that once fully developed, the “trees” could remove thousands of times more carbon than a real tree.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME)’s report evaluated hundreds of geo-engineering projects and suggested three that could help mitigate global climate change (and that were actually feasible using current or soon-to-be-ready technology). Depending on how you look at it (and how creative a thinker you are), the suggestions could be lauded as really interesting, or just really insane.
In addition to artificial trees, the IME reportsuggests growing algae in tubes on the sides of buildings. The algae, which traps carbon during photosynthesis, could be collected and transformed into charcoal, which could then be buried underground. The report also points out the benefits of painting roofs white, which reflects sunlight and helps mitigate heat island effectin urban areas.
While the ideas sound good in theory, researchers have yet to see how the tech would actually work, as no one has quite mastered carbon capture and storage. And even the engineers themselves warn that these geo-engineering projects won’t provide a solution to global warming–they’re meant to be used in conjunction with larger, more long-term efforts to reduce global carbon emissions.
The report also includes a 100-year plan to de-carbonize the global economy, and will be presented at party conferences this fall. Who knows–with the right investments and innovations, the next 10 to 20 years could bring a world filled with fake forestsand floating space mirrors.
Klaus Lackner Elected AAAS Fellow
A pioneer in carbon management and sustainability, Columbia Engineering Professor Klaus Lackner has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2013/1125_fellows.shtml
The latest invention of researchers from Columbia University is an artificial tree that is able to capture carbon dioxide a thousand times faster that a real tree. The lead researcher and a professor of geophysics at Columbia University, Klaus Lackner, has been developing the project for over 10 years and holds hope that the artificial tree will be a very important tool for tackling climate change.
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Scientists will use their latest invention to trap greenhouse gas emitted by vehicles or airplanes. The synthetic tree, which resembles a cylinder, will not require direct sunlight, water of branches to work properly. According to Lackner, the tree is flexible in size and can be placed almost anywhere.
Here’s how it works: the synthetic tree gathers the greenhouse gas on a sorbent, cleans and pressures the carbon dioxide and then releases it. The technique of gas absorption resembles that of a sponge that collects water.
During a whole day one artificial tree will be able to collect one ton of CO2, which equals to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by 20 cars. The technology is currently in the development stage at Global Research Technologies, a company based in Tucson, Arizona, co- founded by Lackner, who at the moment is its chairman. Such invention might serve well for the environment by it is quite costly – each synthetic tree requires $30,000 to make, reports CNN.
Data presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that currently in the United States there are about 135,932,930 vehicles, which means that in order to absorb the amount of carbon emitted by these cars, the country would need to “plant” 6.8 million synthetic trees (that’s $204 billion). With the current global economic crisis the project will probably remain in the development stage for some time. Still, Lackner and his team look forward to push their latest invention full-force. The researcher managed to arrange a meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to talk about the concept.
Artificial Trees That Absorb CO2
The world’s first farm of mechanical CO2 absorbing trees
Source: Youtube, Technology World Latest News & Reviews -Blogger, trendhunter, inhabitat, washingtonpost, Columbia engineering
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