The other day @xxcatskullxx was talking about the effects of Co2 on cognitive function on his live stream. Apparently humans can double or triple the levels of Co2 in a poorly ventilated room in one day.
So, how can we remove carbon from the air (aka carbon sequestration) ? @xxcatskullxx is a big proponent of ventilation, but ultimately this just pushes the problem elsewhere, right?
It turns out that most of the world's carbon is absorbed by the Amazon rain forest and the ocean.
In the past, ventilating worked just fine except lately, we’ve been increasing carbon emissions and reducing the plant's ability to absorb carbon (deforestation, wildfires, etc.) https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/
So, how can we actually remove that carbon, instead of just sending it somewhere else? A lot of people are growing algae to capture carbon. After looking on the internet for some time, i found this:
Depending on the species, algae captures carbon at a 1:2 ratio. Each gram of algae can capture 2 grams of carbon. (apparently there are some super forms of algae that can capture with a 400:1 ratio)

( http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/6962/co2-and-algae-projects/?ref=brm)
In a year, the 4x4 algae grid can capture about two pounds of carbon (853g).

Pretty neat, right? Well, humans exhale about 2lbs (906g) of carbon per day (this is a baseline number, heavy breathing produces more carbon, number could be much higher for highly active humans)
It would take about 450 of these 4x4 grids to capture carbon emitted from human breath at a 1:1 ratio. Stated another way, you would need about 900 sq ft of algae cells in your home.
After mentally walking through my apartment, I figured we could do it. Basically every wall without a window, door, or cupboards would be covered with green algae grids.
gain, that’s enough to capture just the carbon emitted from breathing, from 1 human..what do we do about my wife's and kids' carbon? Not to mention, you have to empty and dispose the contents of each cell once it becomes saturated with algae.
Algae grid inventor, Hyunseok An ( @_Ray_An), suggests that you eat it. Apparently algae is nutritious and eating it is already a fad within nutraceutical circles.
I wonder what the effects of suddenly introducing a pound of algae to the human diet would do. Maybe we would turn green. Maybe this is answer to the world hunger crisis? How much carbon would shipping algae to malnourished peoples produce?
It seems like personal carbon sequestration devices aren’t plausible with the current tech. We would need a massive improvement in algae carbon absorption before this becomes possible.
Apparently shellfish like to eat algae so I wonder if you could create a carbon sequestration facility that doubles as an oyster farm. Yum.
It seems like nuclear energy is the answer. Could we create mini nuclear power plants in low-earth orbit? We could just push them into deep space if they break down? Would the transport result in a net gain in emissions?
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