>
> It appears that every living thing emits gases that contribute to the
> problem - so there is no Kyoto sink. We need to find a sink or else.
>
> Trees produce methane and as they rot, they release the carbon dioxide
> that they stored.
>
> Can we produce a means of removing greenhouse gases without creating more
> than we take out in the process? Or is this a perpetual machine problem?
>
Growing plants can take up more carbon dioxide than they release, though
plants doing little growth do not; I would guess a similar situation would
apply for methane-consuming bacteria, etc. In the natural balance of
things, carbon is removed from easy availability through burial of organic
material and by precipitation of carbonate minerals. Over geologic time,
these will eventually return to the surface, but probably slowly enough for
organisms to maintain a balance. I don't know how practical it is to try to
bury more carbon. It might be feasible to bubble power plant exhaust
through a calcium-rich, basic solution and thereby precipitate out some of
the carbon dioxide.
Gas hydrates can sequester greenhouse gases somewhat out of the way, but the
long-term stability, the environmental impacts, and the practicality of
trying to transform extra gases from the atmosphere into such are not
known.
It's probably a lot easier from a chemistry/physics perspective to produce
less of the stuff, but rather harder from a human behavior perspective.
> --
> Dr. David Campbell
> 425 Scientific Collections
> University of Alabama
> "I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
>
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Received on Tue Jun 27 13:06:45 2006
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