Lackner, a
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energy expert at Columbia University, has designed an
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tree that soaks up carbon dioxide from the air using "leaves" 1,000 times more efficient than true leaves. He explains: The leaves are
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in a resin that contains sodium carbonate, which pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it as a bicarbonate on the leaves. To remove the carbon dioxide, the leaves are
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in water
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and can dry naturally in the wind, soaking up more carbon dioxide.
He
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that our total
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could be removed with 100 million trees. The removed carbon dioxide can be
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and stored; however, there isn"t enough space to store it. But
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are coming up with
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, for example, peridotite, which is a great
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of carbon dioxide. Another
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could be the basalt rock
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, which contain
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gas bubbles.
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carbon dioxide into these bubbles causes it to form
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limestone. However, Lackner thinks the gas is very useful and it can be used to make
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fuels for transport
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. We have the technology to suck carbon dioxide out of the air, and keep it out, but whether it is economically
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is a different question. We have to decide whether the cost of the technology is socially and economically
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the price.