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2008-05-20 Science & Technology

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Posted by twobyfour 2008-05-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Well I agree with one thing, bio carbon capture makes far more sense than chemical carbon capture.

However the whole carbon mania is fizzling out as the world's climate (along with its economy) continues to cool.

Then there is the Chaiten volcano, which looks set to be the biggest eruption since Krakatoa. Already VEI5 and no sign of the final eruptive event which ejects most of the volcanic material. Better pray it isn't the biggest since Tambora.

Posted by phil_b 2008-05-20 03:28|| 2008-05-20 03:28|| Front Page Top

#2 CO2 is not a toxin.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2008-05-20 03:40|| 2008-05-20 03:40|| Front Page Top

#3 Exactly. Where would we be without beer?

Posted by no mo uro 2008-05-20 05:56|| 2008-05-20 05:56|| Front Page Top

#4 Pebbles, it's a matter of degree. The levels would have to be pretty hight to acquire toxicity for a human. Hobbs is a PR man of sorts and uses the toxicity meme as a fashionable point of reference.
Maybe he bought the whole GW thingy, like many others, so from that perspective, there is a solution.

But he better hurry up. As things are, in a few years, when the cooling trend continues, this point may be not as readily accepted.

Posted by Spike Uniter 2008-05-20 06:36|| 2008-05-20 06:36|| Front Page Top

#5 no mo uro, it's more fundamental. No CO2, no plants, thus no beer. ;-)

Posted by Spike Uniter 2008-05-20 06:44|| 2008-05-20 06:44|| Front Page Top

#6 its pretty chilly for May 20th here in Chicagoland.

Posted by 3dc 2008-05-20 09:37|| 2008-05-20 09:37|| Front Page Top

#7 In this brave new world, to be called "pond scum" is to be thought of as a productive member of society.

Posted by Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 2008-05-20 09:38|| 2008-05-20 09:38|| Front Page Top

#8 Look at it this way: less plants for fuel-> more plants for beer->more beer.

Posted by ptah">ptah 2008-05-20 09:57|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2008-05-20 09:57|| Front Page Top

#9 If islamic countries weren't so intent on destroying everything and everybody that doesn't want to live in the 7th century, they might be able to feed people, generate energy, develop medical breakthroughs, develop industry, develop infrastructure, etc. Wait a minute; what was I thinking there for a moment in my flight of fantasy? The Saudi fat cat's days will be numbered when mid-east oil is replaced.

Posted by JohnQC 2008-05-20 09:57|| 2008-05-20 09:57|| Front Page Top

#10 RE: Chaiten volcano.

FYI. Phil_b has good reason to be uneasy...

Posted by ptah">ptah 2008-05-20 10:05|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2008-05-20 10:05|| Front Page Top

#11 Since his carbon source is power plant exhaust (and not atmospheric) his process is more of an increase in efficiency to fossil fuel use than true biofuel - though once his fuel is the carbon source for the power plant he actually does break out of the fossil fuel cycle.

I should think bio-engineering of algae to improve their efficiency in the process would be a terrific long-term research opportunity.

Posted by Menhadden Snogum6713 2008-05-20 10:09|| 2008-05-20 10:09|| Front Page Top

#12 Just wait until PAWS hears about what he's doing to enslave trillions and trillions of algae.....

Posted by CrazyFool 2008-05-20 10:17|| 2008-05-20 10:17|| Front Page Top

#13 OK, so let's get on with it and choke the oil arabs off the teet. There are people dicking around with projects like this all over the world trying to get them "perfected" all the while the arabs are going for broke on prices. I'm especially frustrated with alternative fuel and electric cars, WTF is the holdup with them? Sell the damned things, even if they aren't 100% perfected. There are now 13 ME countries entering what IAEA calls advanced stages of nuclear programs, and they're doing it with our money from the gas pumps.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-05-20 10:37|| 2008-05-20 10:37|| Front Page Top

#14 This really is nothing new. Those of us in the hobby of salt water aquaria (esp. coral reefs) have been using algae for a long time to cleanse the water and sequester things.

Typically in a salt water aquariam, it is the nitrates and phosphates that you are attempting to sequester.

We tend to use different species of algae than say slime algae as mentioned in the article. For example:

Caulerpa (Grape and Razor varieties)

As well as the various Turf Algae

I really like to grow Halimeda although you tend not to see it in coral tanks as it is a calcifying algae and the calcium it sequesters slows down the growth of your corals.

Finally, one of the most important algae to reef tanks, and perhaps the reefs in wild is another calcerous algae, and it is stunning Coraline Algae

Anyway, sorry to ramble, but the article makes this use of algae seem epic, and yes, there is some new here, but thousands of "hobbyists" are doing the same thing every day (just different end goals, but same processes).

Posted by bombay">bombay 2008-05-20 12:24|| 2008-05-20 12:24|| Front Page Top

#15 Articles like these give me hope for the future...mainly because they have the potential to cut off the money supply to the wahhabis. That means that there will be a future. Yes, we as a society need to push these ideas hard and fast.

Posted by remoteman 2008-05-20 14:03|| 2008-05-20 14:03|| Front Page Top

#16 Step right up, I got yur bio-fuel right here. Uses algae, clean, green and mean. It's cheep right now, get in on the bottom floor and make a million out of the looming lack of free energy. I also have your Carbon Offsets and a damn fine deal on Wind Power. Step right up, it's here, it's new and it's time for a change.

Posted by George Smiley 2008-05-20 14:53|| 2008-05-20 14:53|| Front Page Top

#17 regarding the volcano

so far very little sulfur emitted (mostly ash); if this continues it will be a null factor climate-wise

Posted by mhw 2008-05-20 18:15|| 2008-05-20 18:15|| Front Page Top

#18 Ash ejected into the stratosphere will cool temps. By how much depends on the amount of ash. So far not much into the stratosphere, but these kind of plinian eruptions can go on for months before their final eruptive event.

Posted by phil_b 2008-05-20 19:56|| 2008-05-20 19:56|| Front Page Top

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