Genetically Altering Trees To Sequester More Carbon

An anonymous reader writes "Forests of genetically altered trees and other plants could sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year and so help ameliorate global warming, according to estimates published in the October issue of BioScience. The study, by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, outlines a variety of strategies (PDF) for augmenting the processes that plants use to sequester carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon, first in vegetation and ultimately in soil."

Comments

Re:Subjective perspective exaggerated

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We should change our behaviour, but also scrub the atmosphere from the carbon we dumped in it over the last 150 years.

True, but genetically modified trees as the answer?

Why not plant something that captures more carbon naturally like.. I dunno.. hemp? You know the plant that can be used for textiles, paper, oil etc.

Of course that would compete with the cotton industry.. and you couldn't have that. Just as you couldn't have sugar compete with corn production (even if the over-usage of HFCS is negatively affecting your population).