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Just a programmer, so excuse the lay explanation. My understanding is that the goal is to get the CO2 effectively locked in a cycle. Trees naturally spread them

Just a programmer, so excuse the lay explanation. My understanding is that the goal is to get the CO2 effectively locked in a cycle. Trees naturally spread themselves, obviously, and I would expect the net growth of trees to be > 1 annually (more than 1 new tree grows for every tree that dies, every year). However even if the rate was < 1 (perhaps in the case where trees only thrive in the area with human help like.. the Sahara), then at least that CO2 was sequestered from the air for some years, somewhat alleviating the problem. If tree decomposition is really a problem, maybe we can automate a carpentry dystopia. The year is 2080 and there are just chairs and cabinets as far as the eye can see.

moneytide1 7y ago
I wonder why you preface your idea with "just a programmer"? The article talks about how we are exiting the era of ideas and entering the time for deliberate and sustained action, and even though "programming" in this context is about automating computers to do things - we very much will be programming our own careers and those of future generations to carry on these long term geoengineering goals. One example from the article is crushing mountain sized amounts of rock (De Beers has expressed interest, artificially incentivized by government imposed carbon credits), so that the increased surface area may absorb CO2 and then be dropped into the ocean as limestone. This may hold onto CO2 more effectively and could solve the issue referenced by our parent comment (organic carbon sequestration structures may dissolve on their own and return to the atmosphere). Of course, crushing this amount of rock and transporting it would require enormous amounts of energy... Vice news did a special years ago about a Chinese "vaccuum" that could absorb and compress CO2, and the result was hard as rock and could be made into jewelry. The Wooden skyscraper comes to mind. The home construction industry would eventually be sequestering carbon using the trees planted a decade or two prior. Good point though, I haven't even considered that a trillion trees planted over the next few years would be nullified if they were allowed to decompose...

moneytide1 7y ago

I wonder why you preface your idea with "just a programmer"? The article talks about how we are exiting the era of ideas and entering the time for deliberate and sustained action, and even though "programming" in this context is about automating computers to do things - we very much will be programming our own careers and those of future generations to carry on these long term geoengineering goals. One example from the article is crushing mountain sized amounts of rock (De Beers has expressed interest, artificially incentivized by government imposed carbon credits), so that the increased surface area may absorb CO2 and then be dropped into the ocean as limestone. This may hold onto CO2 more effectively and could solve the issue referenced by our parent comment (organic carbon sequestration structures may dissolve on their own and return to the atmosphere). Of course, crushing this amount of rock and transporting it would require enormous amounts of energy... Vice news did a special years ago about a Chinese "vaccuum" that could absorb and compress CO2, and the result was hard as rock and could be made into jewelry. The Wooden skyscraper comes to mind. The home construction industry would eventually be sequestering carbon using the trees planted a decade or two prior. Good point though, I haven't even considered that a trillion trees planted over the next few years would be nullified if they were allowed to decompose...