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Are carbon dioxide-capturing, artificial trees the way of the future?

By mariabooker on Thu, May 6, 2010 at 6:23 pm

Physorg.com reports, “A device with an opening of one square meter can extract about 10 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year,” which is about the equivalent to the carbon emissions of an SUV. What is the major difference from the artificial trees to the traditional trees? Artificial trees don’t require sunlight to do their job.

As with all carbon capture systems, there are some trade offs to consider. GRT have stated that the market demand for CO2 is around 80 million tons per year, but after that demand has been met, the company suggests carbon sequestration, or carbon storage. The concerns with carbon storage is that the life cycle is not sustainable, when empty oil wells have been filled with the sequestered carbon dioxide, they will be sealed and left for our future generations to worry about, not to mention the concern of earthquakes or natural disasters that may cause these wells to leak.

Lackner and GRT have successfully developed a technology of the future that will allow humans to continue on with their carbon dioxide intensive lives, but the concern about what to do with the carbon dioxide may still be an issue. Now if only Lackner could thoroughly replicate photosynthesis so that we could actually get some oxygen out of these “trees”

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If you remember one name over the next 20 years, remember Klaus Lackner. Lackner is the inventor of perhaps one of the most ingenious and technologically advanced devices ever created, and perhaps the savior of our Earth from global warming. Klaus Lackner has invented an artificial tree that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 1,000 times faster than its predecessor, the tree.

Global Research Technologies LLC (GRT), are working with Lackner to commercialize the artificial tree for both industrial and commercial use. A stationary capture “tree” will collect the CO2 as it is being produced, and will be used in high-emitting factories, but an air capture “tree” will be used to remove CO2 that has already been released into the air, these air capture devices can be placedalong roadsides to capture carbon emissions from vehicle exhausts.