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Carbon Removal Technologies

carbon.ycombinator.com

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Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#11

Post by kanzure »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

My personal preference is an inflatable sun shield method like these 10,000 kilometer-wide objects: "Self-deployed, extremely large low mass space structures" http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/space/Self-deployed%20extrem...

I don't think people realize how a lot of these problems are solvable for only a few billion dollars... It's an engineering problem, mainly. Someone just spends the money and goes and fixes the problem.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#12

Post by peacetreefrog »

rexpop wrote: post #4

...are stupid even to contemplate while we're still increasing carbon emissions. If you actually cared about the impact — and weren't just cynically cashing in on environmentalism's recapitulated caché — you'd be shorting big markets. The biggest threat to the world is unbridled capitalism, which VC's like you are incapable of abandoning. May as well ask a fish to bicycle. This post is a pitiable joke, whose highest…

"... stupid to contemplate while we're still increasing carbon emissions."

Ok, let us know your plan for reducing carbon emissions and when and how we can expect it to happen.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#13

Post by natosaichek »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

Anything you can do in space would be cheaper on earth. So rather than shading the pole by spreading ~100,000 sq. km of material in orbit, instead ask why we wouldn't spread the same shade cloth / reflective mylar etc. on the surface of the earth. Then you realize how much of a colossal project it is and how completely impractical is is.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#14

Post by stephengillie »

Jun8 wrote: post #3

This is awesome! Some people don't like having a Plan B along these lines because they think it distracts with the standard approach of emission reduction. In reality, for something this important (i.e. Keter level destruction event) we should pursue all threads simultaneously. "If we don't act soon, we'll end up in "Phase 3" and be too late for both of these strategies to work." In fact, let's at least start brainst…

> Keter level

For the curious: http://www.scp-wiki.net/object-classes

What Would Dr Bright Do?

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#15

Post by dv_dt »

The most impactful technology would be some sort of financial instrument to fund known and future carbon reduction techniques which could be implemented independently (or with the help) of governments.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#16

Post by jpfed »

kanzure wrote: post #11
WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

My personal preference is an inflatable sun shield method like these 10,000 kilometer-wide objects: "Self-deployed, extremely large low mass space structures" http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/space/Self-deployed%20extrem... I don't think people realize how a lot of these problems are solvable for only a few billion dollars... It's an engineering problem, mainly. Someone just spends the money and goes and fixes the pro…

That's one great thing about sunshades- they can be implemented by just convincing a spacefaring billionaire or two instead of having to change policy / steer nation-states.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#17

Post by throwaway5752 »

natosaichek wrote: post #13
WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

Anything you can do in space would be cheaper on earth. So rather than shading the pole by spreading ~100,000 sq. km of material in orbit, instead ask why we wouldn't spread the same shade cloth / reflective mylar etc. on the surface of the earth. Then you realize how much of a colossal project it is and how completely impractical is is.

Earth is a closed system, so the shade cloth on Earth would simply warm up and reradiate the absorbed energy as infrared. Reflective mylar would see a portion of the reflected sunlight (which would have warmed the atmosphere upon entry) trapped by the greenhouse effect.

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#18

Post by throwaway5752 »

kanzure wrote: post #11
WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

My personal preference is an inflatable sun shield method like these 10,000 kilometer-wide objects: "Self-deployed, extremely large low mass space structures" http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/space/Self-deployed%20extrem... I don't think people realize how a lot of these problems are solvable for only a few billion dollars... It's an engineering problem, mainly. Someone just spends the money and goes and fixes the pro…

How would this affect plant life and agriculture?

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#19

Post by throwaway5752 »

GreeniFi wrote: post #2

We already have carbon removal technology. They’re called trees. [Edit] I’m not being facetious. 40% of emissions are as a result of poor land management. We’ll need all the technological help we can get, but if we can’t manage land as carbon stores - not sources, we’re not going to win this race.

Trees hardly make anyone any money (absent a carbon credits/tax system).

Re: Carbon Removal Technologies

#20

Post by pasbesoin »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #5

Can we discuss space sunshades? Assuming the cost of getting freight to orbit goes down substantially as companies like SpaceX ramp up launches, what's the limiting parameter on some sort of sunshade over the north and/or south pole? Is it indeed the cost of launching the sunshade, or are there other factors at play which make the space sunshade unrealistic? What materials would be reflective and resilient and cost-e…

Sunshades don't address other attendant issues stemming from increased CO2, such as ocean acidification. The ocean biosphere wholesale is threatened by acidification. (Among other things, bio-carbonate generation and stability are undermined. And thus, the entire food chain above organisms that depend upon this.)
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