Here’s the second of a series of blog articles:
• Adam Marblestone, Climate technology primer (2/3): CO2 removal.
The first covered the basics of climate science as related to global warming. This one moves on to consider technologies for removing carbon dioxide from the air.
I hope you keep the following warning in mind as you read on:
I’m focused here on trying to understand the narrowly technical aspects, not on the political aspects, despite those being crucial. This is meant to be a review of the technical literature, not a political statement. I worried that writing a blog purely on the topic of technological intervention in the climate, without attempting or claiming to do justice to the social issues raised, would implicitly suggest that I advocate a narrowly technocratic or unilateral approach, which is not my intention. By focusing on technology, I don’t mean to detract from the importance of the social and policy aspects.
The technological issues are worth studying on their own, since they constrain what’s possible. For example: to draw down as much CO2 as human civilization is emitting now, with trees their peak growth phase and their carbon stored permanently, could be done by covering the whole USA with such trees.
One source questions whether the majority of heat is being absorbed now by the oceans while the atmosphere has become thermally saturated (?). As the oceans warm up, thermal pollution will prevent gases such as oxygen from remaining dissolved in the sea water. Saturation depends on the phase, the temperature,..? The algebras used in chemistry can be amusing (and error prone?): px+py < p(x+y).
CO2 sequestration by carbonation of olivine: a new process for optimal separation of the solids produced
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Project Vesta
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Catastrophic Perturbations to the Earth’s Deep Carbon Cycle
Carbonate-silicate Cycle
LafargeHolcim allocates CHF 160 million to reduce carbon footprint in Europe
Concrete Solutions
2005–2009: Second U.S. extension of Daylight Saving Time
“MIT NEWS: timing of urban lights to minimize commuting times”
Roundabouts: Efficient or Annoying?
[…] See also my notes from 2018 on climate:https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2019/10/05/climate-technology-primer-part-1/https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/climate-technology-primer-part-2/https://longitudinal.blog/co2-series-part-3-other-interventions/ […]