3 ms·

So. US $150 per ton, so $150B per gigaton. We must ultimately remove 1,000 gigatons of CO2, but we need to start with 10/year. Using this method will cost the

So. US $150 per ton, so $150B per gigaton. We must ultimately remove 1,000 gigatons of CO2, but we need to start with 10/year. Using this method will cost the world $1.5 trillion per year. That seems completely within our resources. What's stopping us?

ianai 6y ago
I really wonder the same thing. I know I’m at a tail of the distribution, but I could see committing 150/mo of my own funds to sequestering co2. I’ve heard it posited that for one or another reason climate change could create a dictatorial regime one or another way. I hope humanity figures out a way to pull our collective heads out of the sand and start doing stuff before anything like a dictator kicks up...
- emteycz 6y ago
  To the GP asking what's stopping us: 150 usd per month is a quarter of average wage here.
  - simonebrunozzi 6y ago
    You're correct, but let's say the target is 1/10th of it, or $15/month, therefore affordable by many. Still, there's something that prevents us, as a society, from doing it.
    - ianai 6y ago
      Well I’ve seen at least one crowd fund project to sequester co2. It wasn’t particularly impressive scale though iirc.
- ISL 6y ago
  There are sequestration projects out there already, as well as reforestation efforts. If you want to put your $150/mo to work today, you can! One might also consider putting that $150 toward eliminating inefficiencies somewhere in the world -- subsidizing renewable power or improving fuel efficiency in some way.
philipkglass 6y ago
The same thing that has slowed efforts to curb emissions before they need removal: the free rider problem, or collective action problem. Every country benefits a little from one country's efforts to remove atmospheric CO2, and the non-participating countries don't pay anything. There's an incentive for every country to wait for some other country to take up the burden first. That said, I think that the cost of accelerated silicate weathering could drop significantly with further advances in automation. At some point individual governments or well funded NGOs may be able to make a dent in the global problem without waiting for everyone else to cooperate.

ianai 6y ago

I really wonder the same thing. I know I’m at a tail of the distribution, but I could see committing 150/mo of my own funds to sequestering co2. I’ve heard it posited that for one or another reason climate change could create a dictatorial regime one or another way. I hope humanity figures out a way to pull our collective heads out of the sand and start doing stuff before anything like a dictator kicks up...

emteycz 6y ago
To the GP asking what's stopping us: 150 usd per month is a quarter of average wage here.
- simonebrunozzi 6y ago
  You're correct, but let's say the target is 1/10th of it, or $15/month, therefore affordable by many. Still, there's something that prevents us, as a society, from doing it.
  - ianai 6y ago
    Well I’ve seen at least one crowd fund project to sequester co2. It wasn’t particularly impressive scale though iirc.
ISL 6y ago
There are sequestration projects out there already, as well as reforestation efforts. If you want to put your $150/mo to work today, you can! One might also consider putting that $150 toward eliminating inefficiencies somewhere in the world -- subsidizing renewable power or improving fuel efficiency in some way.

philipkglass 6y ago

The same thing that has slowed efforts to curb emissions before they need removal: the free rider problem, or collective action problem. Every country benefits a little from one country's efforts to remove atmospheric CO2, and the non-participating countries don't pay anything. There's an incentive for every country to wait for some other country to take up the burden first. That said, I think that the cost of accelerated silicate weathering could drop significantly with further advances in automation. At some point individual governments or well funded NGOs may be able to make a dent in the global problem without waiting for everyone else to cooperate.