The game's a-changing in California (insanity reigns)

hfrik

Re: The game's a-changing in California (insanity reigns)

NorthGuy wrote: »

That's exactly right. Carbon generally may be in only two forms - CO2 or organic matter (dead or alive). If you want less CO2, you need more organic matter.

It's absolutely obvious that all the fossilised carbon will be completely burnt sooner or later. If you limit the rate of consumption, it only prolongs the burning period, but doesn't change anything for the future. The only way to decrease CO2 is to maintain as much of living vegetation as possible. And it will not be that hard because in the atmosphere with elevated CO2 plants grow really fast.

The laws could be stacked in this direction - want to dig out 100 tons of fossil fuel - no problem, go ahead, but create a forest with 100 tons of biomass somewhere else. Solves the problem in the long run. Taking off forests and replacing them with lakes, on the other hand, is really a bad idea from CO2 viewpoint. But politicians think differently.

things are really not that simple. Because the oceans and to some fraction land is also continuously burying CO2 - producing new fossile fuels, but mostly disperged in sediments. So there is a "safe" low emission of buring fossile fuel, but it is much, much lower than it is now. And no, it is not possible to increase biomass endlessly. And no, the few km² of lake surface up in high mountains nearly without vegetation, or in the far north do not make much difference. They are simply too small. If you want to remove CO2, build a solar power or Wind power station, collect CO2 from air, transform it electrochemical to coal and dig it in the earth.
If you understand Grids and their Management, you will understand that we will have 10-30% of surplus electricity in the long rung average in the net, for safety reasons, which are not used as "normal" electricity, but are still available, because it does not cost a extra cent to produce it. this can be used to supply the chemical industry with raw material (oil, gas) as well as aircrafts. And if there is still a surplus, you can remove CO2. Or if it is urgently neccesary.