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BearisonF0rd t1_jbxflvx wrote

Why not release it into cookies or pancakes instead?

36

thatguyshields t1_jbxfufb wrote

Amazing what we, the human race, can do when great minds come together. Just a shame that it’s always in a time where things seem pretty dire and never before things get bad.

Does that make sense? πŸ˜…

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Rav99 t1_jbxgqpx wrote

I'd be worried about the higher ph and alkalinity of the immediate area where the baking soda is being released. If this were scaled in a way to be meaningful, that's a lot of alkaline substance to disperse in one area.

Perhaps the facility could be placed near a continental shelf so that dispersion could be done into much deeper water nearby.

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ultimas t1_jbxokgt wrote

I think you're right. However, if all of this sodium bicarbonate is being released in concentrated areas, it causes problems of over-alkalization in those areas.

Better if it could be done in a distributed way, with many, smaller units doing this CO2 conversion but spread out over the entire ocean.

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Dav3le3 t1_jbzpa7r wrote

Edit: Plant a tree or throw some local seedbombs!

This comes up pretty often in r/ClimateOffensive and similar subreddits. I have had colleagues work on similar projects. It's great that people can do work like this! There will always be a net loss of energy and increase in carbon in this system however, as subtly noted in the article.

Burn CxHxOx creating CO2 -> use energy to capture the CO2 -> put the CO2 somewhere. The only issue is the CO2 captured with the energy produced will always be less than the CO2 created.

This technology is important long term, once fusion is viable commercially, but currently it's more of a distraction and creates CO2 while using crucial grant money and scientific resources.

Source: Graduated from mechanical engineering with a focus on Advanced Thermodaynamics and Energy Systems.

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FierceContinent t1_jc9tqc6 wrote

"Urban myth has it that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water it will instantly leap out. But if you put it in a pot filled with pleasantly tepid water and gradually heat it, the frog will remain in the water until it boils to death. Allegedly, the frog is not able to detect the gradual increase in temperature until it's too late.This allegory is frequently used in economics, business and marketing. It also illustrates an aspect of human psychology: we tend to accept things that creep up on us slowly but steadily, even when they take control of our lives. But one day we wake up and find ourselves in boiling water. "

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icrushallevil t1_jcczkkm wrote

Sodium bicarbonate? So, it's actually making the ocean less acidic? Not bad

1