Is the solution to global warming atomic or diatomic
Also, is the solution just dissolved iron sulfate or also dissolved silica ?
Sorry for the pun in the title. It is a reference to one of the hives on twitter — the nuclear energy enthusiasts who note the large fraction of zero carbon electricity currently produced by nuclear reactors.*
Another approach to dealing with global warming is carbon capture. There is industrial scale carbon capture technology (which makes nuclear energy look cost competitive) but I would suggest sticking to photosynthesis — in particular by diatoms.
Marine diatoms are an algae which produces a shell made of glass. They are pretty much undigestible and, when they die, end up on the bottom of the ocean as sedimentary permanently captured carbon. The growth of marine algae is limited by lack of small amounts or required minerals (which is why sea including glacial melt is rich and the crystal clear water (say Mediterranean or Caribbean) far from glaciers is poor). In particular, marine algae need iron. This means that moderate amounts of Iron ions (from dissolved Iron sulfate) cause marine algal blooms. A problem (noted by a commenter here long ago) is that fish eat the algae and turn the fixed carbon back to C02.
The approach only works if the algae are hard to digest, that is diatoms.
This makes me think two thoughts. First it might be useful to release diatoms along with the iron sulfate. This would give them the edge on more appetizing algae. Another is that the diatoms also require desolved silica (to make the glass shells).
The fertilize the ocean approach works in areas with disolved silica so the diatoms are limited by Iron not silica. Also silica can be released along with the iron (again to give diatoms an edge). A problem with the last thought is that diatoms contain a lot of silicate (aka glass) compared to Iron so the amount of silica needed might be huge and costly.
I suppose a concluding thought is that we should consider where carbon currently is. Most of it is not in the atmosphere, coal, methane, petroleum, or wood. It is mostly in limestone and was mostly fixed in the sea not on land.
*Having distracted myself, I note that the main troublemakers for nuclear energy enthusiasts are no longer confused greens but rather green eyeshade wearing accountants, who note that nuclear energy is not profitable (there is one nuclear power plant under construction in the USA it is years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and all involved firms are bankrupt). I am old enough to remember the time when silly people who ignored costs supported photovoltaic cells instead of nuclear reactors. I am very old and the relative costs have changed.
@Robert,
The cost of PVs has plummeted.
Also, “nuclear power” isn’t necessarily just light water reactors. The technology for molten salt reactors has improved since the 1960s.
The solution presented in Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘Ministry for the Future’ was to position pumps over holes drilled through antartic glaciers to the rock surface beneath, and remove the melt water that was lubricating the flow of glaciers towards the ocean where it was destined to raise sea-levels to catastrophically. Pumps were powered by portable nuclear reactors, as I recall. That, and various other tricks worked. Might have also included curbing bovine flatulence – I don’t recall.
Sierra Club – ‘Ministry for the Future
climate change innovations from The Ministry for the Future
The point probably is, we don’t give up on trying solutions, ever.
The consensus would seem to be that mankind is better off using energy derived from renewable sources. That leaves out fission reactors, which are inherently dangerous, and produce much waste, requires moving around very hazardous materials, always leads to radioactive emissions. If only because of the negatives, they really don’t have much of a future.
It would remain to be seen if this also would apply to fusion reactors, which are still not a reality, and could also have radioactive byproducts. They are not renewable, but if based on deuterium (hydrogen with an added neutron), at least plentiful in sea water. It probably will not turn out that this is not where fusion is going to be coming from however.
It probably will not turn out that this is where fusion is going to be coming from however.
Much speculation has been made over the possibility of helium-3 as a future energy source. Unlike most nuclear fusion reactions, the fusion of helium-3 atoms releases large amounts of energy without causing the surrounding material to become radioactive. – Wikipedia
There’s endless talk in some circles about mining Helium-3 from the plains the lunar plains and hauling it back to earth for fusion purposes. The solar wind has been depositing it for eons on the open spaces of the moon, maybe. He3 could be used for fusion energy generation, perhaps.
Not renewable, but plentiful as sea water, maybe. Just not too accessible.