Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More Productive Crops

Re:Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More... by thinkcontext on Friday January 04, 2019 @10:41AM (#18824745)

We haven't really figured out sequestration even from extremely CO2 rich sources like power plants. To do it w/ organic field waste you'd have to collect it all, send it somewhere and process it. In terms of sequestration bang for the buck (cost per ton) that sounds like it would make it low down on the list of priorities.

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Re:Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More... by nanomonkey on Friday January 04, 2019 @11:35AM (#18825278)

Actually we've know how to do carbon sequestration for plant matter for quite some time. The resulting biomass can be gasified and remaining carbon is turned into biochar which is inert in the soil for thousands of years. Not only is it a viable process, it's a fairly decent energy source which makes it cost productive.

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Re:Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More... by FlyMoreRockets on Friday January 04, 2019 @10:36PM (#18829738)

This can be done using solar energy and a parabolic trough. Auger feeds ground biomass in one end, the other end gets biochar, water vapor and a range of fractions, from methane to tars. Methane and the tar can both be burned to power the auger and other processes, though the methane is easier to work with.

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