Monday, December 01, 2014

What It Would Really Take to Reverse Climate Change - IEEE Spectrum

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/what-it-would-really-take-to-reverse-climate-change

*I think this is a propaganda piece for the fossil fuel industry. Here's why:

1. Every ton of carbon dioxide not emitted into the atmosphere is one that doesn't need to be sequestered.

2. Renewable energy technology is now in some cases equal to or cheaper than coal. Wind power is there, that is why you see wind farms going up all over the country. Solar will be cheaper than either within the next couple of years. Both have emissions of co2 only if they're manufactured using dirty energy. So the "doesn't reduce emissions" is bullshit.

3. The grain of truth thrown in: To avoid climate change, which is already starting and will continue to occur over centuries, you MUST remove most of the co2 ALREADY EMITTED from the atmosphere. In addition, you will need to change the reflectance (albedo) of the arctic waters that used to be ice-and-snow-covered, probably with a few billion white floating platforms. (Which would also help polar bears & sea lions, and other arctic creatures adapted to living on a floating sheet of ice.) Additionally, you have to do the same with Greenland, because the ice there has been darkened by coal soot coming in on the wind from around the planet. It's now gray instead of white.

4. The fastest way to pull carbon out of the atmosphere would be to plant billions of trees all over the planet. On top of that, you would need to log the trees as they mature and bury the wood chips in the oil caverns we've emptied out all over the planet. (Trees that die and rot in the open re-emit all the carbon they pulled out of the air while growing.) Our entire modern Infrastructure would need to be re-designed to become arboreal. Bamboo would be an excellent choice as well because of its extremely rapid growth and utility as an ultra-light and strong construction material.

You need to both stop emitting, AND sequester in order to halt climate change.

Dan

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