Oil Junkie Methadone

[MR MITCHELL L OATES <RRKR45A@PRODIGY.COM>]

     Was watching the Discovery Magazine program on the Discovery Channel
last night. Part of the program was on a couple of new methods called geo-engine
 ering.
     Basically, the scientists working on this have come to the conclusion
that the world as a whole is never going to curb it's use of oil and other
greenhouse gas emitting fuels. Since we've managed to change the
environment by accident, perhaps by acting on purpose we can offset the
damage caused by the use of the above fuels.
     The first idea was simple, plant enough trees to offset the increased
amount of carbon we're pumping into the atmosphere. This would work, only
problem was you would have to cover an area the size of Austrailia with a
dense forest. And that would only cover the present amount of emissions,
any increase would require a corresponding increase in the amount of
acreage in trees.
     The second idea was seeding areas of the ocean with pharmaceutical
grade iron to promote the growth of plankton to absorb carbon out of the
environment. This was tested on a small scale and promoted a 30 fold
increase in the plankton population in the treated area. Only problem is,
to reduce the average world temperature by 1/2 degree C, you would have to
dump 30 million tons per year of iron into the oceans, and once the
plankton dies they release the carbon in them back to the environment, so
this would have to be an ongoing effort.
     One of the scientists said that the best method would be to break the
cycle of oil addiction and reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. He
said the above two methods were only "better than nothing" and would be
equivalent to giving methadone to a junkie.

                                              Mitch Oates
Oil Junkie Methadone