Reply To: T-shirt designers unite and take over

[Tasmodevil44]

Seeding the oceans with iron to encourage algal blooms in the ocean may indeed be one of the most practical and economic ways to remove vast quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. But I heard recently that some environmentalists oppose this approach ( just can’t win for losing ).

Physicist Alfred Y. Wong of UCLA has proposed a really far – out scheme of ionizing CO2 molecules with either microwave antennas or lasers so that the CO2 will then interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. The ionized CO2 will then be accelerated up into outer space never to return ! ! ! Sounds sort of wacky, I know. But Wong’s concept is all based upon sound physics.

Many years ago, I read about a strange phenomena where CO2 was attracted to magnetic fields. I’ve read about it a few more times over the years. This strange anomaly is indeed weird, because CO2 is NOT supposed to be magnetic. It will interact with magnetic fields only if first ionized.

But anyway, I once proposed the futuristic use of some kind of force field, tractor beam, or carbon dioxide magnet that could draw CO2 toward it. I also proposed the use of some sort of separation and extraction from other atmospheric gases by using some sort of porous membranes assisted by magnetic fields. The CO2 could then be used to synthesize renewable hydrocarbons by some kind of manmade duplication of photosynthesis. And it would all be nuclear powered.

However, I recieved all kinds of scoffing and ridicule for such an outlandish thing. I was called a crackpot and just about every other name you could imagine. As sci – fi futuristic as it may sound, I think such ideas warrant further investigation rather than being completely dismissed out of hand. What if CO2 really could be drawn out of the air by some kind of electrostatic field or something ?

But by far the most practical and economic way to deal with CO2 and global warming is to simply NOT burn fossil fuels and release it in the first place. Like Jolly Roger said, trying to sequester it or any other approach is like closing the door after the horse is gone.