Geophysics Professor at New York’s Columbia University, Klaus Lackner Creates Artificial Trees to Remove CO2 From the Air
The artificial tree—product of GRT (Global Research Technologies of Tucson, in Arizona)—holds carbon dioxide, thanks to an absorbent coating formed by water and calcium; but in contrast to natural trees, it is not capable of releasing oxygen back into the air.
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According to the EPA, the median amount of CO2 emissions produced by a family of two amounts to 13 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere every year, without taking into account transportation. We thought that we could solve the problem of pollution by simply increasing the “green spaces” and nature and let photosynthesis take care of the rest. Unfortunately, this isn’t an efficient proposal.
Perhaps some of you may remember the Sleipner project, active from off the shores of Norway since 1995: one of the many project developed for entrapment of carbon dioxide. Due to these activities it has been possible to acquire a lot of significant experience for the future development of CO2 recycling systems.
Professor Klaus Lackner, a geophysics professor at Columbia University in New York—interviewed in the video by BBC for the series “Five Ways to Save the World”—has in fact worked since 2003 on a car that would be capable of capturing carbon dioxide and transform it into dust, and in this way allow us to store it underground or in the ocean, lowering the consumption of petroleum or gas.
Lackner has also studied ways to store CO2 based on the process of rock weathering: when the gas that bonds to magnesium forms carbonic rocks that hold the carbon in a permanent and safe manner.
Lackner’s project is truly interesting, but the cost and amount of energy in order to capture the carbon dioxide is greater than what we could achieve by recycling the CO2.
Respecting the protocol of Kyoto, there is no doubt that there is a need to go down the path of reduction of consumption of fossil fuels. Above all, if we are conscious of the demand for energy coming from developing countries, and of the serious environmental damages and problems we will face should we not succeed in balancing our energy consumption within a few years.
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