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As much as I like hemp, this seems implausible. Trees sequester carbon for longer (as wood). If I was looking for a quicker alternative I'd plant bamboo (which
by blacksmith_tb 7y ago
As much as I like hemp, this seems implausible. Trees sequester carbon for longer (as wood). If I was looking for a quicker alternative I'd plant bamboo (which also 'grows like a weed').
- BurningFrog 7y agoWell, you'd just have to find a way to store ("sequester") the plants for a few decades at least after their initial growth spurt, and you have a good carbon solution there.
- notfromhere 7y agoFurniture? Wood products? We already do a lot of that.
- BurningFrog 7y agoJust put them in a big pile/hole somewhere.
- vkou 7y agoIt should also be mentioned that the quickest and cheapest way to sequester carbon is not burning most forms of it in the first place.
- skrowl 7y agoI think most people would agree that "stop burning fossil fuels" is a utopian idea that doesn't actually work in practice. You're not going to get people to give up on it (at least near term) so you need to focus on solution that can actually be achieved.
- NikkiA 7y agoI suspect the best way is algae, but we'd likely destroy the oceans overusing it given humanity's inability to do things in a metered and sensible way.
- wysifnwyg 7y agoWhy set it lose in the ocean when you could contain it and measure it in a more controlled environment?
- wjn0 7y agoIt's not immediately clear to me that the energy involved in creating a "more controlled environment" would make the investment a net positive.
- wysifnwyg 7y agoIn a contained setting it still will sequester carbon. It is more easily monitored for expected behavior. It minimizes risk to other ecosystems.
- blacksmith_tb 7y agoAlgae are interesting, but I don't see them as being ideal for tying up the carbon for long - we'd need to compress it into bricks and bury them, perhaps?
- firethief 7y agoAren't we already growing algae in the ocean about as fast as we can? Is there more we could be doing than manufacturing fertilizer on a geological scale and letting a lot of it end up washing out to sea? (Honest question, I haven't thought about this avenue of geoengineering before)
- vonnik 7y agoIn the American West at least, trees go up in flames every few years. Turning hemp into products people don't burn might be a better way to sequester carbon.