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I wonder whether simply bubbling CO2 through seawater would lead to precipitation of carbonates.

Possibly so, but almost certainly this could be performed at optimal efficiency by controlling temperature and pressure. It is possible that each salt could in turn be precipitated for commercial collection and that this could offset or pay for the operating cost if sold at the marginal cost of the mined product.

Phosphorus from bone could be a genuine profit maker, and facilities located along arid coasts such as Pt. Conception south to the tip of Baha and also along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez could provide usable water for agricultural irrigation or domestic water supplies.  

Plus, a decision to manufacture such systems on a large enough scale to matter would drive down the price of solar and wind and give much needed employment. Just call it "THE WAR ON GLOBAL WARMING"!

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 07:52:13 PM EST
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Phosphorus from bone could be a genuine profit maker

bone meal is very popular in organic gardening.

you think any one of these ubergeeks ever tried bubbling the fumes through seawater?

too simple? some vested interest bruised? too cheap and easy?

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:58:36 PM EST
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If that proves the most economical way to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere, that would be great. But if it doesn't lock up the CO2 for, at a minimum, hundreds of years, that would not be so good.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Jan 17th, 2010 at 01:09:24 AM EST
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Thanks ARG.

why would it need to be stabilised for years, if it's going to be transformed by the plants into gases we can breathe profitably?

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Jan 17th, 2010 at 08:49:33 PM EST
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