Solution to climate change?

[Cicada]

I just watched a video about a company which uses giant fans to pull in air, scrubbing out carbon dioxide. They claim they can remove a ton of carbon dioxide for about $232. A gallon of gasoline produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (the gas weighs 6.3 pounds but oxygen from the air adds weight to the carbon dioxide to get it up to 20 pounds). So 100 gallons of gasoline produces a ton of carbon dioxide. A tax of $2.32 per gallon can make gasoline carbon dioxide neutral Why can’t we do that to help save the world? What am I missing? Bill Gates backed carbon capture plant does the work of 40 million trees is the name of the you tube video. I am too stupid to know how to post the link.sorry.

[Poiuyt]

1. Has this been tested on a large scale?

[Cicada]

4. No

[msongs]

2. so what do they do with the CO2 after they remove it from the air? nt

[Cicada]

3. Theymake calcium carbonate crystals which can be stored underground

Or they make fuels

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Where would they get the calcium compound to make calcium carbonate?

And how much energy would it also take to make the calcium carbonate from it? Or, how much energy is needed to make the new fuel?

More likely, their plan is to pump the CO2 into underground reservoirs, which is the usual plan for 'carbon storage'. There are probably limits to the rock formations that can be done in, however, and people need to know how much will leak (which may be manageable - a slow leak would put the atmospheric CO2 problem off, which would give us more time, at least).

[Cicada]

11. The video doesn't say where the calcium comes from

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Then that's what you're missing. That cost per gallon is only the start

and they have not yet come up with a full solution.

On edit: if it's the video below, describing Carbon Engineering (written up here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/a-canadian-companys-attempt-to-get-a-grip-on-the-carbon-emissionsproblem/article27970800/ ), then calcium carbonate is not an end product, it's just used in the concentrating process and recycled. Which is fine (that means they don't need an endless calcium supply), but the point is that we're back at "how much CO2 gas can be stored under ground, and for how long?". Or they make new liquid fuel by combining it with hydrogen, but again, that needs more (renewable) energy, so the cost per gallon will be higher than your OP calculation.

[Cicada]

16. The video claimed the total cost was $97 to $232 per ton

But the video was a promotion of one company, maybe they lied.

[Celerity]

5. Carbon Engineering's Direct Air Capture technology that removes carbon dioxide from air

[Anon-C]

6. Yes. And as good people here on DU have pointed out we need to start

...processing ocean water to scrub carbon as well.

[Blue_true]

14. Or set up seaweed farms in oceans. The seaweed cleans out the CO2

and the resulting seaweed (depending upon the type) can be used for everything from food to fertilizer.

[PETRUS]

7. Maybe, maybe not.

But either way, scientists say we have already overshot four other ecological boundaries (in addition to climate change): biodiversity loss, nitrogen loading, phosphorous loading and land-system change. Any real solution has to involve dramatic changes in the global economic system.

[2naSalit]

12. and fewer humans...nt

[PETRUS]

13. Fewer people would help, for sure.

But, given the current population, it's theoretically possible to provide a good life for everyone while staying within ecological boundaries.

Dunno if you have the interest, but you might want to at least glance at this:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bc0e610abd04bd1e067ccc/t/5cb6dbbe1905f42f166590b7/1555487692201/Hickel+-+Is+it+Possible+to+Achieve+a+Good+Life+For+All+Within+Planetary+Boundaries.pdf

[Kurt V.]

8. Sounds good and every bit helps but nuclear power and regreening the planet would do much more.

[lapfog_1]

9. scale

we need to remove something like 500 billion metric tons of CO2 to return to 380 ppm

$232 x 500 billion = #116 T dollars

[Duppers]

17. Wonder what they're going to do...

In 25yrs when every forest on the planet is burning? Screaming and hair-pulling time when even the R's cannot escape acknowledging what we have done. They'll be throwing every penny into technology to change climate. Too late.



(I say "they" because I will be dead.)