Thread by @LSValue

Tweetstorm about Global Warming, or alternatively Human Induced Carbon Cycle Imbalance.

It is a correctable human problem with a realistic human solution that should be pursued, discussed, and most importantly heavy funded.

Note: I’m not a scientist but rather an enthusiast

1) What we are talking about is the carbon cycle. “Global warming” is a carbon cycle imbalance as compared to our recent historical norms.

2) The Carbon cycle includes both CO2 and CH4 (Methane). When I refer to Carbon, I mean CO2 mainly but it’s a blanket term for all Carbon which includes Methane.

3) Carbon in the atmosphere causes small amounts of heat radiation from the earth in be reflected back into earth rather than escape into space as per usual and thus slowly increases the average temperature of Earth.

4) On Earth, Carbon levels in the atmosphere, have been around 250-300 ppm for most of the time Humans have existed, but historically they have been much higher which correlate with higher global average temperatures.

5) Earth is essentially a closed system. Meaning that all of the Carbon that exists on Earth has been here for most of it’s history and will continue to be here. No carbon leaves and no carbon enters Earth in a significant way.

6) Carbon can be stored in many places, but mainly it is stored in the Air, in Water, in Living Plants/Animals, in Sedimentary Rocks/Soil, or in Dead Plants/Animals which are mainly underground.

7) The current carbon imbalance is mainly because we took Carbon stored in Dead Plants/Animals or Sediment and released it into the air through burning oil and natural gas.

8) There are several other factors in the carbon balance like deforestation and methane from Cows, but mainly the imbalance is driven by releasing the carbon that built up over millions of years in the Earth crust into the atmosphere.

9) Here is the current Carbon Cycle Balance:

10) So too much Carbon is being released into the air than the Earth can absorb by our current carbon sinks (things that absorb carbon), which is essentially:

Carbon into Air > Carbon out of Air = Net Carbon builds up in Air

11) So what can we do?
•Stop eating cows
•Going full renewable energy
•Switch to EV cars
•Stop cutting down forests

But let’s be honest that would require global cooperation and we all know that isn’t happening anytime soon. An alternative approach is focus on carbon

12) The problem is: There is more Carbon in the atmosphere than we as Humans are used too and the rapid change in carbon levels is effecting many things we are used too: like sea levels, temperatures, and most importantly the ecosystems that support life as we know it.

13) The solution is we need to return the carbon levels back to the levels which Humans and fauna/flora are used too to help abate the impacts and get us back to the status quo.

14) How do we do that as efficiently and cheaply as possible? We attack the problem head on. We reverse engineer extractly what caused the problem.

We take the carbon out of air and put it back in the ground.

15) How do we do that as cheaply and efficiently as possible?

High efficiency carbon removal or Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

nature.com/articles/d4158…

16) Several companies are already working on solutions in this area, and they need to be ramped up quickly and heavily funded if we want to address this issue timely: google.com/amp/s/www.digi…

17) At a high scale I believe High efficiency Carbon Removal utilizing catalysts to increase conversion rates and lower the cost significantly (similar to the solar cost curve decline) can and will be found if funding is ample and the industry thrives

chemistryworld.com/news/can-catal…

18) Bill Gates has been one of the largest supporters of this technology and I wish he would talk more about it to push it forward faster:

19) This tech is essentially similar to certain catalytic processes used in oil refining. In fact we likely have the appropriately trained and experienced people in the engineering space within the oil and gas industry that are equipped to tackle this problem.

20) The key barriers to executing on this vision is 1) Funding 2) An economic incentive structure and 3) Public Awareness that their is an acceptable solution to global warming that we can develop that directly addresses the issue with minimal changes to our lives.

21) At scale I think we could develop, build, and run a series of high efficiency carbon removal plants for a fraction of other proposed solutions to climate change / global warming, and also avoiding stranded Capex and efficiently address the problem. carbonremoval.wordpress.com/tag/learning-c…

22) Alternatively, we have other options to alter our carbon cycle including:
•Habitat Restoration
•Robots Planting trees (Aforestation/reforestation)
•Iron Fertization of oceans/lakes
•Carbon capture through waste
•Soil Carbon Sequestration

Which should also be evaluated

23) We shouldn’t refer to this problem as Global Warming or Climate Change, as that is a secondary impacts from the true problem, we should refer to it as the Carbon Cycle Imbalance.

24) One note is that High Efficiency Carbon Removal is not Geoengineering. Geoenginerring like Stratospheric Aerosol Injection should be avoided at all costs as the outcomes are unknown and potential for “overshoot” could be devastating for humanity / earth (global ice age)

25) Some ideas on how to address Funding

1) Carbon Tax
2) A massive philanthropic effort to provide a huge pool of carbon grants
3) Alternative profit streams (make things out of Carbon)
4) Government funding
5) Insurance / Corporate funded

26) Ideas on how to address Economic Incentive Structure:

1) Carbon Removal Fund - Paid to take out carbon (This is preferred as you want Carbon Removal to go to the cheapest region)
2) Carbon Mandate by UN - Each country takes a quota and pitches in cash when they are short

If your interested in CCS here are some good follows @GlobalCCS @ASU_CNCE @carbon_180 @CarbonBrief @The_CCSA