Article

2007-10-23 International-UN-NGOs

Carbon Dioxide Levels Rising Faster Than Predicted (and Kyoto is the cause)

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Posted by phil_b 2007-10-23 08:04|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 A truly frustrating aspect of all of this is that if industrial CO2 is a problem, then there is an easy, profitable way of addressing it. Pump the industrial CO2 and nitrous oxides through algae tanks.

First of all, if all it would do would be to trap the CO2 and nitrous oxides, that would be enough, because it would fix those gases into solids.

However, if you use the right kind of algae, it would also produce copious amounts of biodiesel and some amount of ethanol. In a form that is pretty easy to process into usable fuel.

So not only would you recycle your CO2, but you would make a *profit* from what amounts to waste, *and* maybe make useful, or even large quantities of fuel in the process.

What's not to like? As a bonus, it is so incredibly low-tech, that any country could do it.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-10-23 09:38|| 2007-10-23 09:38|| Front Page Top

#2 'Moose---the problem with this scheme is there is no cut for Al Gorelioni.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-10-23 10:36|| 2007-10-23 10:36|| Front Page Top

#3 Actual atmospheric numbers are at:

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/

Also for Moose, the Rentech company which hopes to switch from natural gas to coal as their feedstock for production of ammonia at a plant near E. Dubuque, IL, is examining various was to use or sequester carbon dioxide. The company will have a concentrated stream of CO2 since the new system is to be fully closed. However there is a lot of it. If they were to use the algea system the tank would probably require more than a hundred acres.

see:
http://www.rentechinc.com/rentech-projects.htm

Posted by mhw">mhw 2007-10-23 11:44|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/] 2007-10-23 11:44|| Front Page Top

#4 This is serious, people. If this rate of increase continues, our atmosphere will be composed entirely of CO2. Think about it: 100% of our air will be carbon dioxide - a deadly poison!

Gotta go. Mom's yelling. Something about extrapolating curves or something.

Posted by SteveS 2007-10-23 11:49|| 2007-10-23 11:49|| Front Page Top

#5 Alaska Paul is close. Ther are no Government Subsidies for that kind of engineering. Only corn produced ethanol. Take away the subsidies for corn-based ethanol and this could be a viable option.

Posted by Deacon Blues">Deacon Blues 2007-10-23 11:50|| 2007-10-23 11:50|| Front Page Top

#6 Gorelioni. Heh.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2007-10-23 12:04|| 2007-10-23 12:04|| Front Page Top

#7 While I support using waste gasses to produce fuel, the problem is scale. People just don't realize how much energy we produce and how low yield renewables really are. A large 1200 MW powerplant uses 20,000 tons lignite coal/day. To soak up the equivalent CO2 requires 20,000 tons of biomass/day. Assuming one could produce (no one done it on a large scale) 100 tons of algae/acre/year. It would require 73,000 acres or a square of land 10.7 miles on a side. That's just to grow the algae under enhanced CO2 conditions for one power plant. It's a huge outlay of capital and labor.

Posted by ed 2007-10-23 12:08|| 2007-10-23 12:08|| Front Page Top

#8 ed, correct for the old technology, but the new technology converts all feed stock into gas. It's out there waiting for the dollars to build it.

Posted by wxjames 2007-10-23 12:58|| 2007-10-23 12:58|| Front Page Top

#9 wxjames, it doesn't matter how one uses the uses the biomass. I calculated only to equalize the carbon of the coal and resultant biomass. In reality, to get the most value from the algae, first you extract the oils, optionally produce ethanol from the carbohydrates, and then finally burn or sell for feed the leftovers.

Posted by ed 2007-10-23 13:05|| 2007-10-23 13:05|| Front Page Top

#10 I think almost everybody realizes we need to get off of the oil tit. If only to remove the money source to the Middle East. And to do that we are going to have to make some decisions at a will piss off some segments of society. If we want to do large scale solar we will have to set aside large areas of desert for solar plants whether they are solar cell or mirror colectors. And if the environmentalists don't like it tough titties. Wind farms where parctical even if Otis* doesn't like the view. Nuclear plants to fill the gaps. Hydroelectric although all of the good sites are already in use. Plus we need to put more money into fusion research IMO. The test reactor to be built in France will provide useful data but it is only part of the way to a commercial reactor. put some research money into some of the more off beat ideas. Such as ElectroStatic Confinement reactors. If they work fine. If they don't well we piss away money on lots of other stuff why not piss away on something that might have a chance of paying back.

* Otis as in Otis from the Andy Griffith Show AKA Ted Kennedy

Posted by Chedderhead 2007-10-23 15:11|| 2007-10-23 15:11|| Front Page Top

#11 ed: algae reproduction rates in closed sunlight systems are enormous when enhanced with CO2 and nitrous oxides. Anywhere below the Mason/Dixon line full scale production and harvest could be ongoing for 10 months of the year.

While there still might be a large amount of waste CO2, it would be a heck of a lot less. And remember that by producing biodiesel, instead of waste it becomes profit.

It is not unreasonable to imagine gigantic algae farms in rural America. If they can produce a big chunk of our diesel fuel needs, it is not only worth it, but will pay for itself.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-10-23 16:56|| 2007-10-23 16:56|| Front Page Top

#12 How much Co2 has been added to the air because of the Southern California fires vs Co2 from cars, etc? I think the numbers might be interesting.

Posted by rjschwarz 2007-10-23 17:10|| 2007-10-23 17:10|| Front Page Top

#13 the California Air Resources Board has been notified. "All cars must be shut down for 2 years as a carbon-credit...and NO SMOKING, DAMMIT"

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-10-23 17:25|| 2007-10-23 17:25|| Front Page Top

#14 TOPIX/REDDIT/LUCIANNE > GLOBAL OCEANS TURNING MORE ACIDIC/INTO PLASTIC. Time again to destroy the Sun in order to save humanity + Earth.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-10-23 18:49|| 2007-10-23 18:49|| Front Page Top

#15 NEWSCIENTIST > RETURN OF PANGEA? World Tectonic analysis/studies indics Perts to believe that Earth is going back to the future - Adam-and-Eve's Garden, Atlantis-Lemuria. See also FREEREPUBLIC and how HIMALAYA's was created as per INDIA collision. D ***NG IT, MADONNA FANS MUST ASK HOW DOES THIS STOP KAMALEN, OR A LARGE COMET/SPACE ROCK(S) FROM KNOCKING EARTH OFF ITS ORBIT, OR PLANET X, OR MERCURY, OR SUN, OR ................................@ EVENTS.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-10-23 20:18|| 2007-10-23 20:18|| Front Page Top

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