Dear Reader,
It seems to me that if we want to really mitigate the carbon dioxide output of coal fired power plants we would use the carbon dioxide to make oil. This way we could actually re-burn the coal… With a little help.
Bubbling the carbon dioxide through algae filled water, using the proper strain of algae, we could then process the algae into oil. Oil that could be burned in diesel engines. Remember, scientists think the oil we have is the remnants of vast algal mats that spread for miles, millions of years ago. They died, fell to the bottom, were covered, became rock, and voila!
Algae factories could revolutionize the energy paradigm. Factories could be built near power plants. The business plan is most promising to find an old dirty plant that is vital. Charge them through the teeth to process the smoke and then sell your output (oil) at the market price.
The idea of sequestering carbon dioxide underground, to me, is quite scary. Talk about potential unintended consequences. What potential aquifers are we potentially turning into carbonic acid? Or the plot of a mediocre horror flick, millions of cubic yards of pure carbon dioxide is suddenly released in an urban setting. They told them, but they didn’t listen and blasted for the new subway, thousands are suffocated, a few try to get away, this is their story…
Of course, the whole presupposition that global warming or potentially global cooling, is man made is foolish. Not that, I don’t think that it is possible, in the future, with due diligence, to terraform another planet. But that is another blog…
