Trapping Carbon by Building a Better Tree

Everyone knows by now that forests -- particularly large expanses of forest, such as the Amazonian rain forests -- are important carbon dioxide sponges. However, scientists have voiced concerns that climate change may have diminished trees' ability to absorb the greenhouse gas.

Fortunately, new technology has been developed for the production of synthetic trees able to absorb carbon dioxide (or CO2) 1,000 times faster than their arboreal counterparts. Each tree could collect as much as 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year. This could then be converted into a liquid and used as an energy source or as fertilizer (although your humble blogger believes organic is far superior).

Columbia University professor Klaus Lackner came up with the novel technique and is developing the trees through his company, Global Research Technologies. As reported by Popular Science (linked above), Lackner met with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to discuss widespread deployment of the faux forests.

In addition to its CO2-sucking prowess, the new "tree" works just as effectively in the dark (live trees need sunlight), so it can be used in enclosed spaces and moved. Apart from its ability to take CO2 out of the air, it is able to collect hundreds of times more energy than a wind turbine is able to produce. According to the Popular Science article, that's enough efficiency to justify its cost, roughly the same as a new car.

Describing how it actually works or even what it looks like is a bit more difficult, as details are limited. We know the devices' plastic leaves absorb CO2, store it in a chamber and then compress it into a liquid. If it works as advertised, we could see these things "planted" throughout urban areas to power tomorrow's fleet of electric vehicles.