Quote:
Originally Posted by Ivan Viehoff
Suppose we wish to crack CO2 to C and O2. We need energy to do this. For simplicity, suppose the energy comes from burning carbon, since essentially our available marginal energy sources are of this nature. The laws of thermodynamics indicate that processes have less than 100% efficiency, so the amount of CO2 emitted from carrying out the cracking is larger than the amount of CO2 we crack, catalysed or not.
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Yes, but as you said, that is under the assumption the energy comes from a carbon source. I don't think any SINGLE source will ever replace a carbon based energy economy, but several sources, both in development and already in place, do have the potential to do so. Even today we have several sources that could be used, such as focused energy solar, hydroelectric , and nuclear. No one is saying it wouldn't be difficult, or not expensive, but sometimes we need to do something not because it is easy, but because it is hard. This blue marble is all we got, and while I hope for more, we still must work maintain what we have. We are but custodians, and I would prefer to get my damage deposit back.
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