Its True! Trees do remove CO2 from the air!
The problem starts, and this is where there is much misunderstanding, with what happens to the carbon in the long term. A tree will absorb a large amount of CO2 during its lifetime, but when after its lifetime, that carbon is released again as the tree decays, or is burned as fuel, etc.
The point of CCS is to place the captured carbon in a state that it can be stored for the long term (1000's of years).
The problem isn't so much that we are performing processes that release CO2 into the atmosphere, but that the CO2 we are releasing is "new", as in it used to be sequestered underground in a stable form, and now it is being added to our atmosphere. That is why bio-diesel, even if it wasn't less harmful than oil-based diesel, is still an advantage because the CO2 it releases was taken from our atmosphere to begin with, making it close to carbon-neutral.
The point is to stop ADDING CO2 to our atmosphere, and start removing and storing it for the long term.
Actually, an enormous part of the crash safety of a car has to do with the skin. A large portion of crash safety R&D goes into the materials and shapes that will absorb the most energy from an impact. The energy is absorbed in the strain (deformation) of the body panels and other "crash-absorbant" materials, such as expanded aluminum honeycomb. Without the crumpling of the skin, the energy is passed directly to the frame, which will probably protect the occupants from being crushed, but in a much more abrupt manner (the shock of decelerating so suddenly would kill or maim very effectively). An analogy would be jumping from 15' high onto the floor - it would surely hurt and could injure your legs and feet. If you stack some cardboard boxes and jump onto them, the crushing of the boxes absorbs alot of your potential energy, and also spreads out the impulse of the landing.
So if you base a show entirely around a product or set of products, wouldn't that eliminate the need for commercials? At this point I would rather watch an entire show with an integrated product then try and watch the 10 minutes of "actual TV" sqeezed between 20 minutes of nonsensical commercials.
Slashdot Mirror
Its True! Trees do remove CO2 from the air! The problem starts, and this is where there is much misunderstanding, with what happens to the carbon in the long term. A tree will absorb a large amount of CO2 during its lifetime, but when after its lifetime, that carbon is released again as the tree decays, or is burned as fuel, etc. The point of CCS is to place the captured carbon in a state that it can be stored for the long term (1000's of years). The problem isn't so much that we are performing processes that release CO2 into the atmosphere, but that the CO2 we are releasing is "new", as in it used to be sequestered underground in a stable form, and now it is being added to our atmosphere. That is why bio-diesel, even if it wasn't less harmful than oil-based diesel, is still an advantage because the CO2 it releases was taken from our atmosphere to begin with, making it close to carbon-neutral. The point is to stop ADDING CO2 to our atmosphere, and start removing and storing it for the long term.
Actually, an enormous part of the crash safety of a car has to do with the skin. A large portion of crash safety R&D goes into the materials and shapes that will absorb the most energy from an impact. The energy is absorbed in the strain (deformation) of the body panels and other "crash-absorbant" materials, such as expanded aluminum honeycomb. Without the crumpling of the skin, the energy is passed directly to the frame, which will probably protect the occupants from being crushed, but in a much more abrupt manner (the shock of decelerating so suddenly would kill or maim very effectively). An analogy would be jumping from 15' high onto the floor - it would surely hurt and could injure your legs and feet. If you stack some cardboard boxes and jump onto them, the crushing of the boxes absorbs alot of your potential energy, and also spreads out the impulse of the landing.
So if you base a show entirely around a product or set of products, wouldn't that eliminate the need for commercials? At this point I would rather watch an entire show with an integrated product then try and watch the 10 minutes of "actual TV" sqeezed between 20 minutes of nonsensical commercials.