An active minus is intended to compensate for the problematic plus: The focus of the February issue of bild der Wissenschaft is the possibilities for the targeted elimination of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from exhaust gases and the atmosphere. Various natural and technological strategies could be used for this purpose. However, they sometimes raise tricky questions and are associated with special challenges, as can be seen from the four-part title topic.
If things continue like this, there is a risk of catastrophic consequences - scientists have long been warning urgently about the consequences of global warming due to increasing carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere. But it is well known that humanity finds it difficult to face the problem as one. So far there have mainly been declarations of intent: the increase in global mean temperature should be limited to 1.5 degrees if possible. This should lead to drastic reductions in emissions. The big goal is actually climate neutrality: the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should not increase any further.
In the first sub-article of the title topic “Away with CO₂!”, bdw author Hartmut Netz first makes it clear that this goal cannot be achieved through savings alone. The further increase in the CO₂ concentration in the earth's atmosphere can only be contained if the greenhouse gas is actively removed from it. That's why scientists around the world are exploring the potential of strategies and technologies to capture or specifically extract CO₂ from the air. In the article “Climate washing for the atmosphere” the author presents the basic concepts based on optimized agriculture, the protection and promotion of natural carbon stores and new technologies.
Natural and technological approaches
Netz then goes into more detail about the potential of natural systems that can lead to the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Accordingly, the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere could be significantly reduced through the protection, restoration or targeted establishment of particularly climate-impacting ecosystems. This effect is based on the binding of the gas by organisms during photosynthesis and the subsequent incorporation into biomass. In certain ecosystems, the carbon is then deposited for a particularly long period of time. The forests, moors and seagrass meadows are particularly important. The author reports on the effects, opportunities and challenges of promoting these ecosystems in the article “Repairing Nature”.
The third sub-article focuses on the enormous opportunities for climate protection that lie in optimizing agriculture. It is also about mitigating damage, as agriculture and livestock farming are considered to be a key driver of climate change. A key to increasing CO₂ binding capacities in agriculture is to promote humus formation. In order for this carbon-rich substance to be stored effectively, a healthy and colorful community of soil organisms is important. However, many existing methods in conventional farming are damaging to this system. However, there are alternative methods that can benefit climate protection, as can be seen from the article “How agriculture protects the climate”.
The fourth article in the title topic is then dedicated to the technological approaches that are intended to enable the capture and permanent binding of carbon dioxide. In it, Netz reports on the development of special absorber systems that extract CO₂ either from industrial exhaust gases or directly from the ambient air. According to the balance sheet, both procedures could be worthwhile despite the high effort involved. The author also devotes himself to possible solutions for disposing of the trapped greenhouse gas: he reports on how it could be deposited under the seabed or in basalt deposits. There are also ways to use CO₂ as a chemical raw material, according to the article “Capturing and locking up”.
You can read the articles on the title topic “Away with CO2!” online as part of a bdw+ subscription, or you can find them in the February issue of bild der Wissenschaft, which will be available in stores from January 19th.