Technology promises rescue from greenhouse gas dilemma

Technology promises rescue from greenhouse gas dilemma

A report from the nonprofit and nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) (www.environmentalintegrity.org) with data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) says CO2 emissions from U.S. power plants rose 2.9% in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998. Additionally, the electric power industry’s carbon dioxide emissions have risen 5.9% since 2002 and 11.7% since 1997, making power plants the single largest factor in climate change pollution in the U.S. Here is where technology can rescue us.

The creation of Carbon Science’s GreenCarbonate from CO2 .

Carbon Science (Santa Barbara, CA, www.carbonsciences.com) developed a patent-pending technology to convert, on an industrial scale, CO2 into a useful product used in the manufacturing of many consumer products. This new technology is a different approach to the idea of sequestering (burying) CO2 under the land or oceans. Sequestering can be an effective way to reduce CO2 gases in the atmosphere, but only certain land areas can use it.

Derek McLeish, president and CEO of the company, says Carbon Science developed a working technology that converts CO2 into a usable form of calcium carbonate, what the company calls GreenCarbonate. Its extensive commercial uses include agriculture, the manufacture of paper, coatings, plastics, glass, ceramics, chalk, dental care, cosmetic products, construction, and architectural applications.

Paul O’Shea