A machine that scrubs carbon dioxide from the air could reduce the overall amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
DCL
1. Air Scrubbers
This method involves capturing carbon dioxide either through chemical engineering or biomass energy production. From there, the CO2 is squirreled away in saline aquifers that don't provide potable water, or the underground areas that once housed oil and gas reserves. University of Calgary climate scientist David Keith has been working on an air-scrubbing machine that could pull 20 tons of CO2 per square meter out of the atmosphere annually (see Project Earth's "The Fixing Carbon Scrubber"). Similarly, Columbia University geophysicist Klaus Lackner has developed "artificial trees" that vacuum CO2 much better than the real ones. We'd need around 250,000 of these towering machines to deal with our annual emissions -- an economic and even aesthetic challenge considering resistance to wind turbines. In around 90 years, the most aggressive air capture and storage plans have -1.99 radiative forcing. That's no -3.71, but it could turn back time somewhat. Only the graduates of 2100 will be able to tell for sure.
Tags: Carbon Capture, Climate, Climate Change, Earth, Engineering
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