6 ms·

Synthetic "tree" captures more carbon than a real one

8 points by jingsong 17y ago

falsestprophet 17y ago
This is a very poor substitute for trees. Trees convert gaseous carbon dioxide into solid organic molecules [1]. I am pretty suspicious of the idea that humans (especially the humans who come up with the lowest bids to win these contracts) can store planetary-scale amounts of carbon dioxide over geologic time. This may very well accomplish nothing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fixation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fixation
zmonkeyz 17y ago
So if you plant a lot of these around real trees will they suffocate? Will someone think of the trees?!?!
ZachS 17y ago
I'd personally much rather see the source of the problem fixed (reduce carbon emissions). I also hope this doesn't turn into an excuse to clear-cut more rain forests. i.e. We'll cut down the real trees and replace them with efficient carbon collecting "tree" buildings.
- netsp 17y ago
  I think that for the most part, it is expected that some sort of geo-engineering (call it what you like) will take place.
deleted 17y ago
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baguasquirrel 17y ago
"Each synthetic tree would cost $30,000 dollars to build." I bet you could buy a whole acre of forest for that. Best part is, you don't have to perform maintenance or anything on an acre of forest.
- jingsong 17y ago
  At the same time, they're 1000 times faster. Can a tree be planted for $30?
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - baguasquirrel 17y ago
    Last time I checked, yes. http://www.arborday.org/Shopping/Trees/PopularTrees.cfm?zone=7 http://www.arborday.org/Shopping/Trees/PopularTrees.cfm?zone... Around $6 a tree, and lets say the remaining $24 goes to some middle school kid to plant it for you.
netsp 17y ago
It would be very interesting if one of these technologies eventually made carbon capture so cheap that multiple countries could single-handedly afford to reduce carbon levels to whatever they wanted. At that point carbon levels become an active decision. The words environmental policy would take on a completely different meaning.
radu_floricica 17y ago
20 cars? That goes to 1000-2000 per car, which is by far the cheapest way I've heard of to make cars carbon neutral.

8 points by jingsong 17y ago

This is a very poor substitute for trees. Trees convert gaseous carbon dioxide into solid organic molecules [1]. I am pretty suspicious of the idea that humans (especially the humans who come up with the lowest bids to win these contracts) can store planetary-scale amounts of carbon dioxide over geologic time. This may very well accomplish nothing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fixation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fixation

zmonkeyz 17y ago

So if you plant a lot of these around real trees will they suffocate? Will someone think of the trees?!?!

ZachS 17y ago

I'd personally much rather see the source of the problem fixed (reduce carbon emissions). I also hope this doesn't turn into an excuse to clear-cut more rain forests. i.e. We'll cut down the real trees and replace them with efficient carbon collecting "tree" buildings.

netsp 17y ago
I think that for the most part, it is expected that some sort of geo-engineering (call it what you like) will take place.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

baguasquirrel 17y ago

"Each synthetic tree would cost $30,000 dollars to build." I bet you could buy a whole acre of forest for that. Best part is, you don't have to perform maintenance or anything on an acre of forest.

jingsong 17y ago
At the same time, they're 1000 times faster. Can a tree be planted for $30?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- baguasquirrel 17y ago
  Last time I checked, yes. http://www.arborday.org/Shopping/Trees/PopularTrees.cfm?zone=7 http://www.arborday.org/Shopping/Trees/PopularTrees.cfm?zone... Around $6 a tree, and lets say the remaining $24 goes to some middle school kid to plant it for you.

netsp 17y ago

It would be very interesting if one of these technologies eventually made carbon capture so cheap that multiple countries could single-handedly afford to reduce carbon levels to whatever they wanted. At that point carbon levels become an active decision. The words environmental policy would take on a completely different meaning.

radu_floricica 17y ago

20 cars? That goes to 1000-2000 per car, which is by far the cheapest way I've heard of to make cars carbon neutral.