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posted by cmn32480 on Monday October 26 2015, @10:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-earth-is-self-regulating dept.

Researchers from the University of Florida have discovered certain bacteria on the ocean floor could neutralize massive quantities of industrial carbon dioxide.

Because carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activity, is a key culprit in climate change, scientists from a variety of disciplines have been searching for ways to effectively capture and neutralize the gas.

The UF researchers discovered that an enzyme produced by the bacteria Thiomicrospira crunogena, can convert the harmful gas into a benign compound. The enzyme carbonic anhydrase can actually strip carbon dioxide from organisms, the researchers say.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @10:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @10:22PM (#254900)

    Original AC here:
    I was thinking what the other AC was: thorium.

    If your nuclear reactor design is producing waste that is dangerous to handle for hundreds or thousands of years; obviously you are leaving a lot of residual energy on the table.

    As far as I can tell, the main problem with breeder reactors is the nuclear weapon proliferation concerns (which may not actually be grounded in reality).

    BTW, I case you were not aware, molten salt reactors operate at atmospheric pressure (no pressure vessel required). Thermal runaway can be avoided in the event of a power failure with a "frost plug" that drains the reactor in the absence of active cooling.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by TrumpetPower! on Monday October 26 2015, @11:17PM

    by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Monday October 26 2015, @11:17PM (#254927) Homepage

    You're still missing all the big points.

    Nobody's actually built the reactor you're proposing. Even if the wastes are edible, the fuel is some seriously nasty shit. You'll never have one in your home, and no industrial-scale nuclear plant is going to be able to get by without all sorts of insane amounts of overhead -- security to protect the fuel from terrorists, including ones flying planes into the structure, if nothing else.

    But millions and millions of people are already running their homes and businesses off of rooftop solar, and at a significant profit compared to utility-generated power.

    You're proposing some exotic nonexistent fantasy as a solution when we've already got in widespread production something profitable and barely more technologically complicated or inherently dangerous than a window....

    b&

    --
    All but God can prove this sentence true.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @12:08AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @12:08AM (#254942)

      One of the thorium videos I saw claimed that new coal-fired plants being built in china are designed to allow an easy thorium retrofit. Was not able to find a direct quote to that effect in a quick search.

      I doubt molten-salt reactors will need any more security than existing coal-fired power-plants (which currently produce more nuclear waste that any thorium plant would (nuclear reaction vs chemical reaction again)).

      • (Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Tuesday October 27 2015, @01:14AM

        by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Tuesday October 27 2015, @01:14AM (#254968) Homepage

        Erm...you still don't get it.

        Thorium is crazy vaporware. Solar is in widespread production.

        How 'bout a software analogy?

        Thorium is GNU HURD. Solar is Linux.

        Or, I know -- everybody loves car analogies.

        Thorium is a mythological hydrogen fool cell car that gets you 150 MPG and you fill up from your garden hose. Solar is the Nissan Leaf or BMW i3 or Chevy Volt or Mitsubishi i MiEV or Renault Zoe or Kia Soul EV or Fiat 500e (or many others) that you can drive home from the dealership today and plug in to any outlet to recharge as soon as you get home.

        Does that help get the point across?

        b&

        --
        All but God can prove this sentence true.
        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @03:01AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @03:01AM (#254993)

          Without molten salt reactors, hydrogen will probably be generated from fossil fuels for a very long time.

          The main problem with electric vehicles is that you have to store the reaction products: which adds weight. While electric vehicles are now good enough for typical commutes, they will likely always be impractical for long road trips or taxi/delivery services running all day.

          Molten salt reactors make it possible to close the carbon cycle with respect to diesel (I guess bio-diesel already counts, but food-to-fuel is problematic). Call it vapourware if you want, but I think it can already be argued that natural gas is now renewable (via landfill capture).

          Note: I found the toyota AD about this [youtube.com] not credible because they really glossed over the difference in energy produced by chemical and nuclear reactions. We will never have nuclear powered cars since there is no way to shield the gamma rays and alpha particles without a lot of mass. Also notice in that video that Marty fills his pick-up with trash, yet they still needs to supplement the collected "bio-gas" (3:08) with fossil fuel from "the grid" (3:12).

          In short, hydrogen-powered cars will be burning fossil fuels until such time as molten-salt reactors become a reality, At that point, you might as well just use diesel for the better energy density.

          According to this video, you do not get (heavy) rare-earth minerals [youtube.com] without Thorium.

          • (Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Tuesday October 27 2015, @03:29AM

            by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Tuesday October 27 2015, @03:29AM (#254996) Homepage

            Teslas are already perfectly suited to long cross-country road trips, and would make awesome taxis.

            Today.

            Not some vague distant future, but today.

            And the rest of your post...is vaporware that nobody is actually doing. In stark contrast to the solar panels I myself have on my very own rooftop.

            Again, today.

            If somebody figures out a way to make a profit from thorium, and do so in a way that's not pushing hazardous externalities onto the public, fantastic. But you know when people are doing that?

            Not today.

            b&

            --
            All but God can prove this sentence true.
            • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @06:44AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @06:44AM (#255014)

              Industry won't touch thorium because of all the regulations around it being a nuclear per-cursor material (and is regulated under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty).

              As for the Tesla, I think think that the 85kWh version may work as a taxi. Would require over-night charging (on a fast charger) (and no "insane mode"), but the driver needs to sleep sometime.

              My second link speaks directly to the stuff you say is here today, and not some speculation. "Green" technologies are being built in China because that is the only country willing to mine thorium. As a result, they control the vast majority of the rare earth market.

        • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Friday October 30 2015, @11:28AM

          by Aiwendil (531) on Friday October 30 2015, @11:28AM (#256417) Journal

          The Indians (asia) did the math more than a decade ago - it is possible to use thorium in phwr/candu-reactors (the Indian AHWR is the optimization of this track).

          Just pointing out that there are reactors in commercial use today that can utilize thorium (but it is easier to use uranium)