Is it possible to remove the carbon from carbon dioxide without getting plants involved. If so, HOW?

Answer 1

There are lots of ways to remove the carbon from carbon dioxide.

They all require energy. Plants do it using the sun's energy.

It can be done with electrolysis where you use electrical energy to split the bonds, releasing oxygen, and depositing solid carbon.

It can be done with a wide variety of wet-chemistry methods that hook the oxygen up with a more reactive element than the carbon, precipitating the carbon.

If you get the energy for the carbon-oxygen split by burning fossil fuels, you will make more CO2 generating the energy than you will split using the energy.

Plants are really good at this, use sunlight as their power source, and the carbon that they remove from the CO2 is often turned into useful stuff, like wood.

Go plants!

Answer 2

Given a cheap energy source like nuclear fission or controlled nuclear fusion, you can react it with hydrogen from water to make methanol, ethanol or hydrocarbon fuels. Or artificial photosynthesis without the use of plants to use solar energy directly. Chlorophyll is a porphyrin which is essential for photosynthesis. It has a magnesium atom in the centre of its molecule. Some promising experiments have been done using a synthetic porphyrin based on ruthenium. Plants aren't particularly efficient at photosynthesis.

Answer 3

I don't see why you would want to but there is an interesting AND spectacular way.....Get two blocks of dry ice. carefully dig a 3 cmX3cm hole in th bottom one. fill the hole with magnesium turnings. Ignite the magnesium with a propane torch and immediately place the other block on top, very cool demo an you will get lots of carbon. TRY IT

Answer 4

I don't think currently there is a way but in the future it is definitely possible

Answer 5

They have machines that do it on the space shuttle and in the russian space station.