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> A zero-carbon lifestyle is completely unattainable for the simple reason that we breathe out CO2. [..] That's a misconception that I often encounter. Note t

> A zero-carbon lifestyle is completely unattainable for the simple reason that we breathe out CO2. [..] That's a misconception that I often encounter. Note that CO2 breathed out by humans and animals has (almost) no effect on atmospheric CO2 levels. Humans consume exclusively non-fossil carbon, i.e. only carbon that was harvested from plants out of the atmosphere using photosynthesis. When we breath out we merely give back the carbon that the plant removed from the atmosphere maybe few months earlier. This is different from cars which primarily consume fossil carbon, so their exhaust puts carbon back into the atmosphere, which hasn't been in the atmosphere for at least a few tens of million years. Luckily mankind hasn't found out yet how to turn fossil carbon into food :)

qppo 6y ago
We've been producing food from fossil fuels for over a century via industrial nitrate production.
- tehjoker 6y ago
  This is true, but there's no physical law that says humans have to consume carbon positive food, it's a social choice not something inherent to humans.
Nasrudith 6y ago
CO2 is fungible once it is in the atmosphere. There is no law of physics which says what can and cannot - only assumptions. Although it is a matter of scales given implementation details. Technically we turn fossil carbon into food indirectly all of the time with fertilizer and fueling agricultural vehicles but again implementation level details. We could also subsitute non-fossil sources or make it regenerative even though it wouldn't be that practical. Somebody with far too much funding and power in the literal energy over time sense could theoretically be a smartass jerk and start sequestering enough CO2 over time that lack of carbon starts to be a threat. In practice it would be less of a threat than being crushed to death by massive stacks of dollar bills.

qppo 6y ago

We've been producing food from fossil fuels for over a century via industrial nitrate production.

tehjoker 6y ago
This is true, but there's no physical law that says humans have to consume carbon positive food, it's a social choice not something inherent to humans.

Nasrudith 6y ago

CO2 is fungible once it is in the atmosphere. There is no law of physics which says what can and cannot - only assumptions. Although it is a matter of scales given implementation details. Technically we turn fossil carbon into food indirectly all of the time with fertilizer and fueling agricultural vehicles but again implementation level details. We could also subsitute non-fossil sources or make it regenerative even though it wouldn't be that practical. Somebody with far too much funding and power in the literal energy over time sense could theoretically be a smartass jerk and start sequestering enough CO2 over time that lack of carbon starts to be a threat. In practice it would be less of a threat than being crushed to death by massive stacks of dollar bills.