Is it possible to use plant material to break down CO2 in large quantities?

Question

Plants can breath 10,000 ppm of CO2 with no ill effects (compared to the 500 ppm in normal air). We are genetically engineering plants all the time. Can we increase this CO2 use rate? Can we create huge "boxes" containing the plants, and pass CO2 and light through them? Maybe even make the boxes self-sustaining, pumping out the dead plant material (to also use to generate power), the O2 (into the air)?

Dream big on this one. Unless you work for the oil industry, don't just dump it at the first technical barrier.

Maybe plants could be engineered that once they reach a certain size, they stop growing, but continue to break down the CO2...

I think this has much more potential than CO2 sequestering (burying, for example).

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

You will still have a problem. The plants use the carbon they get out of CO2. It is used to help build the plant and to store energy. As your plants absorb more and more CO2, they will get bigger. Eventually, you will have to either cut them back or replace them with smaller plants. What you throw away will rot and that will release CO2 and methane into the atmosphere. Methane will eventually become CO2 and H2O.

Now, if you can keep a lot of the carbon tied up in the plant for a long time, then you have something. A tree is a perfect solution for that. The carbon used to build the wood of the tree is tied up for a very long time.

Answer 2

Wrong!!!! plants take in CO2 and hold on to the C and give us back the O2. The C in the plants helps with the plants food so it does grow but then comes winter and the leaves fall off and wash down the river to the delta where it decomposes into gas ,oil, and coal. That shows the plant still has the C in it. The cloal has held the C for many years. Where do u think our original fossil fuels came from.

Answer 3

I suppose you could engineer plants to breathe, grow, faster. I think you are over thinking this. Lets just plant more trees, lawns flowers and ornamental beds. How much money did you put into plant purchases in your back yard last year. (150$ 3trees, 3planters)) We need to get our roof space in order. The top of every roof should be one of two things, solar energy cells where it is sunny; or ground cover on structures that can support the weight. Its this simple: Tax breaks for landscape plants. You would sell a more plants, so you also grow more plants for sale. Then use more co2.

Answer 4

Like A. Mercer said, this doesn't solve anything. The carbon will be used to create new cells for the plant and allow it to grow, but when the plant dies and rots the carbon is released once again.

Therefore, underground sequestering is the only reasonable solution.

Answer 5

The best plant is in the Amazonas, the forest in South-America.
But it's being cut down.. then there is little hope left !