A major new facility to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere started operating in Iceland on Wednesday, a boost to an emerging technology that experts say could eventually play an important role in reducing the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet.
The carbon capturing plant, perched on a barren lava plateau in southwest Iceland, is the biggest of its kind, its builder says, increasing global capacity for the technology by more than 40 percent. Many climate experts say that efforts to suck carbon dioxide out of the air will be key to making the world carbon neutral in the coming decades.
By 2050, humanity will need to pull nearly a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year through direct air capture technology to achieve carbon neutral goals, according to International Energy Agency recommendations from earlier this year. The plant in Iceland will be able to capture 4,000 metric tons annually — just a tiny fraction of what will be necessary, but one that Climeworks, the company that built it, […]
The article says the plant can remove the annual carbon emissions of 790 cars. One Aleppo Pine tree can absorb almost 50 tons per year. It’s considered that with 100 trees located in a city, they can absorb Co2 from 103,730 vehicles in the area. Therefore, 100 trees would be able to absorb virtually all Co2 from a small town. And produce oxygen as a byproduct. Why not just plant trees?
I think your idea is great, in addition to these carbon sucking plants. But why not both? Especially since carbon sucking plants create jobs.
But to answer your question why not just trees?
Because pulling a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air a YEAR will take both.
Because companies like Monsanto, continue to rape forests for profit, altering our ecosystem creating the two step dance. One foot forward – two steps back.
And unfortunately, a lot of people are uneducated and don’t care.
Reducing demand for energy in general, fossil fuel in particular would seem to be an easier goal to meet.
The world would need 250,000 of these plants (not dozens) just to stay at a possibly world-killing 1.5 degree increase. And of course it is an unproven technology with unknown side-effects. Betting human and all-life existence on such a scheme is quite a long-shot bet.