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We need to take CO2 out of the sky – an overview of climate tech

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Re: We need to take CO2 out of the sky – an overview of climate tech

#6
Why do we always phrase it as changing the climate instead of facing that it's an energy balance issue? Too much energy is entering the earth and getting trapped.

We can solve it by letting less enter, or otherwise sinking some of it. Consider if we stored the excess energy as chemical energy? or reflected some fraction of the energy back out away from us?

reducing consumption is a failing project and the greener technology gets the more people increase their consumption in a compensatory way (Heat – George Monbiot) ...

Re: We need to take CO2 out of the sky – an overview of climate tech

#8
post #4

I empathize with people who are trying to help by reducing their footprint. Though I fear it'll all be in vain when a machine is invented that can suck a lifetime's worth of frugality out of the air in a fraction of a second.

> Though I fear it'll all be in vain when a machine is invented that can suck a lifetime's worth of frugality out of the air in a fraction of a second.

In the same way that a year's worth of health insurance is wasted if you don't get sick. So, not wasted.

Re: We need to take CO2 out of the sky – an overview of climate tech

#9
post #4

I empathize with people who are trying to help by reducing their footprint. Though I fear it'll all be in vain when a machine is invented that can suck a lifetime's worth of frugality out of the air in a fraction of a second.

It took me months to save $100 as a kid, now seconds of movement on the stock market earns me more money – but I don't regret saving as a kid :)

Re: We need to take CO2 out of the sky – an overview of climate tech

#10

1. Plant trees 2. Cut down trees 3. Sink trees to the bottom of a great lake

Sure, that works, and will continue to work. Forests on the other hand help when new, but reach a steady state.

However the problem is that at least for the near future burning oil, making plastic, and similar other carbon intensive processes make it near impossible to plant enough trees.

Carbon taxes, solar, wind, energy storage, and nuclear offer at least the possibility of offsetting carbon generation.... then plant and sink trees.

I do wonder how hard it would be to make a widget that with sunlight could make pure carbon bricks that would be useful as a building material. I think Cory Doctorow described it in one of his sci-fi books. Ideally self replicating of course.

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