Latest update: 05/07/2011 

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CO2: a second life

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Wake up and be afraid. That's the message from the International Energy Agency after learning our energy-related carbon emissions hit a record level in 2010. Last year, for the first time in history, more than 30 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere. This week in Environment we’re chasing clever ideas to curb our CO2 output.

ENVIRONMENT
By Mairead DUNDAS

We start in Le Havre, where engineers from a French engineering school are capturing carbon dioxide in smoke emitted from a toxic waste processing plant. They’re hoping to create something known as a circular economy, where the industries which contribute the waste will then be able to re-use the trapped CO2.

Next we head to the Almeria in Spain, a region that is home to 26,000 hectares of greenhouses, all of which have a high demand for carbon dioxide.

Innovative companies are realising that injecting large quantities of the greenhouse gas can increase crop yields by up to 20%.

And finally, could synthetic trees help to reduce our carbon emissions? Scientists at New York's Columbia University have developed a fake tree that's more effective than the real ones. 

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Comments (1)

CO2: a second life

by Anonyme - 06/07/2011 - 14:59

For Mairead Dundas perfect ! from Lionel

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