Australian Scientists uncover key to boosting carbon capture- plantstones

[Michaelangelica]

Amongst the decay are thousands of tiny capsules of carbon known as plant stones, invisible to the naked eye and virtually indestructible.

 

"Plant stone is just like a glass jar that has the carbon inside it and that gets deposited into the soil when the plant dies and, basically, it's very stable, it's there for thousands of years," said Jeffrey Parr, also of Southern Cross University.

 

"The carbon is actually enclosed by a silica coating. The silica coating protects it from being decomposed in soils."

Scientists uncover key to boosting carbon capture - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

Sugar cane and bamboo have been identified as prime candidates for carbon capture. (AAP Image [File photo]: Dave Hunt)

 

Video link also available at site.

[freeztar]

I still think char is a much better way to go. :)

 

FWIW, "plant stones" are not a new discovery. They are also called phytoliths.

[Buffy]

Oddly enough today's SF Comical has a story about a similar technology, but designed to ramp up to industrial scale:

 

Constantz says he has invented a green cement that could eliminate the huge amounts of carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere by the manufacturers of the everyday cement used in concrete for buildings, roadways and bridges.

 

His vision of eliminating a large source of the world's greenhouse [imath]CO_2[/imath] has gained traction with both investors and environmentalists.

 

Already, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is backing Constantz's company, the Calera Corp., which has a pilot factory in Moss Landing (Monterey County) churning out cement in small batches.

 

Gentlemen all, I do suspect this trash to be a party in this injury, :phones:

Buffy