Squeeze a little lime into seawater to cut carbon: scientists

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.discoverychannel.ca/reports/article.aspx?aid=9864

Squeeze a little lime into seawater to cut carbon: scientists

7/21/2008 12:42:00 PM - Aileen O'Dowd

Scientists have found a feasible way to reverse levels of CO2 in the atmosphere - potentially even turning back the environmental clock to pre-industrial times.

...

The addition of lime - extracted from limestone - to seawater increases the sea's ability to suck up extra amounts of carbon from the air, and also reduces its likelihood of releasing it back again.

Through a process called calcination, the limestone (calcium carbonate) is thermally decomposed into lime (calcium oxide).

In addition, explains Gilles Bertherin from Shell, a coordinator on the project, putting calcium hydroxide into the sea increases alkalinity, and lessens the negative effects of ocean acidification -- hugely benefiting the marine environment.

...

[grasswire]

1. fascinating

thanks

[90-percent]

2. nice, but

the law of unintended consequences...one wonders what this fix would unintentionally destroy?

-90% Jimmy

[damntexdem]

3. For starters: a hell of a lot of limestone.

But for once, maybe a twist of lime in the drink really is the answer. ;-)

[madokie]

4. and it was probably a large part of why I started imbibing back years ago

that little twist of lime.

This is good news though

[tinrobot]

5. These techniques address the symptoms, not the cause.

Perhaps this technique can slow or even reverse the damage we've caused, which is good, but it doesn't address the underlying cause - our addiction to oil.

I worry that doing something like this will make it somehow OK to continue burning oil.

I hope not.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Sure. Addressing symptoms can be a good thing

For example, one "symptom" of a massive wound is unstoppable bleeding. The underlying cause is the wound, however you'll die from the bleeding.

Stop the bleeding (or at least slow it) and that may give the doctors time to address the wound.


The question of whether it will allow us to keep burning oil or not is moot. We cannot continue to burn oil at an ever-increasing rate.

[Speck Tater]

6. Sure, let's try a massive experiment

by altering ocean chemical composition without understanding what the consequences might be. We might get lucky and kill the ocean, thus stripping both CO2 AND oxygen from the atmosphere. That would solve the pollution problem once and for all by eliminating all animal life, including human.

How many arrogant human experiments conducted with no regard for consequences will it take before the human race destroys itself?

But what the hell. If we destroy this planet, there are always other planets we can move to, right?

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. I've got a better idea. Let's cover up our heads, and wait to die

Seriously. Doing nothing is not an option, and doing something at a very small scale won't work either.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Here we go... (Extensive Paper)

http://faculty.geog.utoronto.ca/Harvey/Harvey/papers/Harvey%20(2008,%20JGR,%20Mitigating%20Ocean%20Acidification).pdf

Mitigating the atmospheric CO2 increase and ocean acidification
by adding limestone powder to upwelling regions

L. D. D. Harvey1
Received 5 June 2007; revised 18 December 2007; accepted 5 February 2008; published 23 April 2008.
<1> The feasibility of enhancing the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere by adding
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) powder to the ocean and of partially reversing the
acidification of the ocean and the decrease in calcite supersaturation resulting from the
absorption of anthropogenic CO2 is investigated. CaCO3 could be added to the surface
layer in regions where the depth of the boundary between supersaturated and unsaturated
water is relatively shallow (250 – 500 m) and where the upwelling velocity is large
(30 – 300 m a-1.) The CaCO3 would dissolve within a few 100 m depth below the
saturation horizon, and the dissolution products would enter the mixed layer within a few
years to decades, facilitating further absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. This
absorption of CO2 would largely offset the increase in mixed layer pH and carbonate
supersaturation resulting from the upwelling of dissolved limestone powder. However, if
done on a large scale, the reduction in atmospheric CO2 due to absorption of CO2 by the
ocean would reduce the amount of CO2 that needs to be absorbed by the mixed layer,
thereby allowing a larger net increase in pH and in supersaturation in the regions receiving
CaCO3. At the same time, the reduction in atmospheric pCO2 would cause outgassing
of CO2 from ocean regions not subject to addition of CaCO3, thereby increasing the pH
and supersaturation in these regions as well. Geographically optimal application of
4 billion t of CaCO3 a

[cosmik debris]

10. I don't understand

In the first post it talks about adding lime--Calcium Oxide--CaO.

In this post it talks about adding limestone--Calcium Carbonate--CaCO3.

The difference between the two just happens to be one molecule of CO2.

The way you make lime from limestone is to cook off the CO2 at 2200 degrees F for about 2 hrs. That creates a lot of CO2 from the limestone and a lot of CO2 from the cooking.

So this really doesn't make sense to me.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. I'm glad it's not just me

I'd suggest crap reporting as likely cause: I think the paper is talking about adding CaCO₃, rather than cooking off a trillion tons and dumping the CaO which is what the DC article implies: Unfortunatley, I'm going to have to read the paper. Worse, I'm going to have to understand it, which could take a while with my knowledge of chemistry... :dunce:

[cosmik debris]

12. Another irony

All the CaCO3 in the form of limestone came from CO2 sequestered by organisms in primordial seas.

I think we are chasing our tails.

[Dead_Parrot]

13. Fixed link:

here
:hi:

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. Put de lime in de coconut... DEN you feel bettah.

sorry, couldn't help that.

[Howzit]

15. "limestone (calcium carbonate) is thermally decomposed into lime (calcium oxide)"

The keywords are thermally and carbonate. So, you are going to apply heat (generated how) to liberate CO2 from the limestone so that the lime can then suck up CO2? Nice business to be in.

[Indenturedebtor]

16. What I wanna know is... Are you ready?

To Tangueray?





Seriously though why don't we just go out there and coat all of our coral reefs in rock dust? Why didn't I think of this before?

[Nihil]

17. You know, they must have *really* worked hard on this ...

They actually managed to come up with an even more stupid "plan" than
the previous one of "dumping shitloads of iron filings into the sea in
the hope that it would help".

This time, not only do they have their "let's see what happens" moment
but they also add to the problem by
- burning fuel to mine the limestone (releasing CO2);
- destroying the inland environment by extracting the limestone;
- burning fuel to turn limestone into quicklime (releasing CO2);
- burning fuel to transport the quicklime into the ocean (releasing CO2);
- destroying the marine environment by dumping a caustic chemical in it;

Complete fucking nutcases.

:crazy: