Removing Carbon From the Atmosphere

How can we absorb all that excess carbon dioxide that is being released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels? Preserving Earth’s forests and planting more trees might help, but it won’t be sufficient. One idea is to use carbon-scrubbing machines that would pull the carbon dioxide out of the air. The recovered carbon dioxide could then be used in such products as high-carbon cement, dry ice, or synthetic gasoline. Or it could be stored deep underground again.

Current technology would need to be improved before carbon-scrubbing is economically feasible. But the basic techniques are in place already – they’ve been used in submarines for decades.

Reference: Lackner, Klaus S. Washing Carbon Out of the Air. Scientific American pp. 66-71, June 2010.