Display:
Just bubble air through an aqueous solution of Ca(OH)2, right?

The question is where you get the Ca(OH)2 without emitting CO2 in its manufacture.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:14:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Let's back up one more step.  What's my source of Calcium?

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:24:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Calcite, right? LOL!!!

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:25:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Wikipedia: Ocurrence of Calcium
Calcium occurs most commonly in sedimentary rocks in the minerals calcite, dolomite and gypsum. It also occurs in igneous and metamorphic rocks chiefly in the silicate minerals: plagioclase, amphiboles, pyroxenes and garnets.
Making Lime Water
Lime water can be made by mixing excess calcium hydroxide with distilled water, or deionized water.
Okay, we can accept water with impurities. But
Calcium hydroxide is produced commercially by treating lime with water:
CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2
Okay, next up
Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials such as limestone, that contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3; mineral calcite) in a lime kiln. This is accomplished by heating the material to above 825 °C,[1] a process called calcination or lime-burning, to liberate a molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2); leaving CaO. This process is reversible, since once the quicklime product has cooled, it immediately begins to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, until, after enough time, it is completely converted back to calcium carbonate.
Right-ho.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:30:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
So, no running in circles unless you're outside getting exercise.  How about human bone?  Plenty of that crap around?

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:34:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's usually covered in flesh, but luckily we can use limewater to wash that off... So the whole thing can run in a cycle...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:38:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, instead of wasting space planting people in the ground (which could be growing plants which would also be taking CO2 out of the air) why don't we "recycle" bodies in some environmentally friendly manner, reclaiming the bone of course?

Or,

if you will give me solar electrolysis, how about extraction of calcium metal out of sea water?  Should be downhill from there.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:51:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
But the bone is already carbonate.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:55:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Calcium Phosphate.  We're not made of limestone.  At least I'm not.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:56:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Okay, phosphorus oxides are solids. Human bone would work.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:58:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Let's back up a bit. We want to capture CO2 into carbonates so we need to start with other salts whose associated oxides are not gases.

Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides are out.

How about silicates? Can we turn silicates plus carbon dioxide into carbonates plus silica?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:47:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You give me the resources of UC Davis while I'm working on my truffles project (actually not a bad idea when I pitch it to my Rep.) and why not?  What's to lose?

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 08:55:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
go for it Twank! truck the fuffles.

or we'll have this

Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload?

Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload? Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 16 2010 | 42,844 views

The U.S. government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil.

The material is produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions.  The substance is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health.

...

    As you may know, coal-fired plants produce about 50 percent of the power in the US, and are a major source of environmental pollution. One of its byproducts is FGD gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum). Not surprisingly, the standard solution is to develop a scheme to sweep the problem under the rug and make money doing it.

    In this case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun promoting what they call "wastes beneficial uses," in order to deal with industrial byproducts.

    This is history repeating itself ad nauseum.

    The plot to use of FGD gypsum on agricultural soils is virtually identical to the story of how the toxic byproduct fluoride was deemed beneficial to human health, once it became too costly for the aluminum industry to clean it up.

    If you're not yet aware of how the "beneficial waste uses" of fluoride came about, you may want to take a look at it now, because these two stories are hauntingly familiar.

    Ironically, while the EPA and USDA are recommending the use of this toxic byproduct on fields, the Obama administration is also in the process of drafting the first federal standards for storage and disposal of coal wastes. The White House and the EPA are currently at odds over how to handle the more than 125 million tons of coal ash and sludge waste generated each year, reports the Wall Street Journal.

    According to the Associated Press, this action was prompted by a spill from a coal ash pond near Knoxville, TN, just over a year ago. Ash and water flooded 300 acres, damaging homes and killing fish. The cleanup will cost an estimated $1 billion.

    It's logically challenging to accept that while an accidental coal waste spill is environmentally devastating, the willful spreading coal waste on farm lands, year after year, would be environmentally sound.

    Granted, the combined contents of the spill was likely far more toxic than FGD gypsum alone, but we're still talking about adding toxins to our farm lands, and no matter how minute these toxins are, they will eventually accumulate.

    Why would we want to do this to ourselves, and to our future generations?

so assholes can make a buck, duh.

~"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 12:19:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
or we could figure out something along these lines perhaps:

Adept Alchemy. Part II. Chapter 8. Biological Transmutations

The study of biological transmutation can be said to have begun in the 17th century with the famous experiment by von Helmont, who grew a willow tree in a clay vase with 200 pounds of soil. After 5 years, he dried the soil and found that its weight had decreased by only 2 ounces: "Water alone had, therefore, been sufficient to produce 160 pounds of wood, bark and roots" (plus fallen leaves which he did not weigh). Presumably, there were some minerals in the water he fed to the tree. Nowadays we know that plants form carbohydrates from atmospheric carbon dioxide, but their mineral content is derived from soil, not air. It may be possible, however, that the ORMEs (Orbitally Rearranged Monoatomic Elements), discovered by David Hudson in the 1980s, exist in the atmosphere and are utilized by plants.

In 1799, the French chemist Vauquelin became intrigued by the quantity of lime which hens excrete every day. He isolated a hen and fed it a pound of oats which were analyzed for lime (CaO). Vauquelin analyzed the eggs and feces and found five times more Ca was excreted than was consumed. He concluded that lime had been created, but could not figure out how it happened.

In 1822, the English physiologist Prout studied the increase of calcium carbonate inside incubating chicken eggs, and was able to show that it was not contributed by the shell.

In 1831, Choubard germinated watercress seeds in clean glass vessels and showed that the sprouts contained minerals which did not previously exist in the seeds.



~"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 01:03:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Spoken like a true Fortean ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 01:21:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
well forte-ified, lol

~"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 01:23:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That reminds me, I came downstairs for a glass of 10 year old Taylors Port and got sidetracked into posting ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 01:26:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
careful with that axe, eugene!

~"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 05:57:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
you'll probably get the Nobel if you suss this!

it gets better:

Adept Alchemy. Part II. Chapter 8. Biological Transmutations

Circa 1850, Lauwes and Gilbert observed an inexplicable variation in the amount of magnesium in the ashes of plants.

From 1875-1883, von Herzeele conducted 500 analyses which verified an increase in weight in the ashes of plants grown without soil in a controlled medium. He concluded that, "Plants are capable of effecting the transmutation of elements". His publications so outraged the scientific community of the time, they were removed from libraries. His writings were lost for more than 50 years until a collection was found in Berlin by Dr. Hauscka, who subsequently published von Herzeele's findings.

M. Baranger (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris) became intrigued with Von Herzeele's experiments, but he thought that the number of trials had been too limited and the precautions against error were insufficient. Baranger decided to repeat the experiments with all possible precautions and a very large number of cases which would allow a statistical study. His research project lasted four years and involved thousands of analyses. Baranger verified the content of P, K, and Ca of vetch seeds before and after germination in twice-distilled water to which pure calcium chloride was/was not added. Hundreds of lots of 7-10 grams each were selected, weighed to 1/100th milligram, and graded, then germinated in a controlled environment. The plants were tested by the methods described by A. Brunel-Tourcoin in his Practical Treatise of Plant Chemistry (1948). Baranger found a significant decrease in P in the Ca-series of tests. Non-germinated seeds and seeds germinated in the distilled water showed no significant change in their levels of K. Those seeds treated with CaCl2 showed a 10% increase in their K content.

None of the specialists who examined Baranger's work were able to find any experimental errors. Baranger concluded:

These results, obtained by taking all possible precautions, confirm the general conclusions proposed by V. Herzeele and lead one to think that under certain conditions the plants are capable of forming elements which did not exist before in the external environment.

[The practical consequences] cannot be underestimated... Certain plants would bring to the soil some elements useful for the growth of other plants; this would lead us especially to define and revise the current notions on fallows, rotations, mixed crop, fertilizers and the manuring of infertile soils. Nothing prevents us from thinking that certain plants are capable of producing rare elements of industrial importance....

In the sub-atomic field, the plant supplies us with an example of transformation which we are not capable of performing in the laboratory without bringing into action particles of high-energy... It seems that the theoretical consequences in the field of sub-atomic physics are not negligible.

In 1946, Henri Spindler, (Director of the Laboratoire Maritime de Dinard) investigated the origin of iodine in seaweed, and found that the algae Laminaria manufactured iodine out of water which contained none of the element. (15)

Prof. Perrault (Paris University) found that the hormone aldosterone provoked a transmutation of Na to K, which could be fatal to a patient; heart failure occurs when blood plasma K reaches approximately 350 mg/liter.

In 1959, Dr. Julien (Univ. of Besancon) proved that if tenches are put in water containing 14% NaCl, their production of KCl increases 36% within 4 hours. (5)

Louis Kervran (Univ. of Paris) was the most ardent researcher of biological transmutation, and his work in the field earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize. Kervran elucidated several of these nuclear reactions and verified them:

The vital phenomenon is not of a chemical order... The nucleus of the atom in light elements is quite different from what nuclear physics regards as the average type, the latter having value only for the heavy elements... Nature moves particles from one nucleus to another ¾ particles such as hydrogen and oxygen nuclei and, in some cases, the nuclei of carbon and lithium. There is thus a transmutation... Biological transmutation is a phenomenon completely different from the atomic fissions or fusions of physics... it reveals a property of matter not seen prior to this work. (4, 7-13)

Kervran found that in nuclido-biological reactions, oxygen is always in the form of O, never O2; reactions with nitrogen occur only with N2, insofar as is known. The following reactions (shown in simplistic form) have been observed:

Na23 + H1 ® Mg24         Na23 + O16 ® K39         Na23 - O16 ® Li7

Na23 ® Li7 + O16         K39 + H1 ® Ca40         Mg24 + Li7 ® P31

Mg24 + O16 ® Ca40         F19 + O16 ® Cl35         C12 + Li7 ® F19

Cl35 ® C12 + Na23         Fe56 - H1 ® Mn55         2 O16 - H1 ® P31

O16 + O16 ® S32         2 N14 ® C12 + O16         N14 + Mg12 ® K19

Si28 + C12 ® Ca40         Si28 + C12 ® Ca40         P31 + H1 « S32



~"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 01:09:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'll stick to truffle domestication.  I pull that off and look out.  The doors will open wide.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 01:26:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"Nobody knows the truffle I've seen...."

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 01:28:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I can think of no appropriate response.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 01:56:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
None was required. I think it's called a rhetorical comment...

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 02:00:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The vital phenomenon is not of a chemical order... The nucleus of the atom in light elements is quite different from what nuclear physics regards as the average type, the latter having value only for the heavy elements... Nature moves particles from one nucleus to another ¾ particles such as hydrogen and oxygen nuclei and, in some cases, the nuclei of carbon and lithium. There is thus a transmutation... Biological transmutation is a phenomenon completely different from the atomic fissions or fusions of physics... it reveals a property of matter not seen prior to this work.
Can I call bullshit on this?

I'm not questioning the merit or Kervran's work, but truly to claim that nuclear physics has nothing to do with this...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 02:46:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
wha?

Migeru:

that nuclear physics has nothing to do with this...

i though nuclear physics had to do with like, everything...

seriously, (for me anyway lol).

~"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 06:02:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Anyway, the Wikipedia page on Louis Kervran makes interesting reading...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 06:08:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
<don't encourage him> ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 06:26:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
All animal bone would work. Locate next to slaughter houses or rail facilities. Plus I have read of a coming phosphorus shortage to the alleviation of which this could provide a renewable pathway. Another profitable byproduct. But this is unlikely to scale to the required degree either.

My thought was to use naturally occurring magnesium, Calcium and Potassium from sea water. The relative abundance of elements in sea water, expressed as a percentage by mass is:

*Cl -- 1.94%
*Na -- 1.08%  -- NaCO3 and soda ash
*Mg -- 0.192% -- MgCO3 or chalk
*S  -- 0.900%
*Ca -- 0.410% -- CaCO3 or limestone
*K  -- ).385% -- K2Co3 or potash

A solar or wind powered unit could turn atmospheric CO2 and elements from sea water into four useful families of chemicals and water that is mostly fresh. React some of the metals with the dissolved sulfur and you would have water that is agriculturally useful. All that is required is long term thinking.

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 06:10:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Interestingly, sea water contains mostly chloride and sulfate, the amount of carbonate being negligible. However
although seawater contains about 2.8 times the bicarbonate than river water based on molarity, the percentage of bicarbonate in seawater as a ratio of all dissolved ions is far lower than in river water. Bicarbonate ions also constitute 48% of river water solutes, but only 0.41% of all seawater ions.
Again, as upthread, I wonder whether simply bubbling CO2 through seawater would lead to precipitation of carbonates.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 16th, 2010 at 06:22:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
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
[ Parent ]
Comment responses
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
[ Parent ]
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
[ Parent ]
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
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Occasional Series