The potential sounds almost too good to be true:Eric Matzner, who co-founded the nonprofit Project Vesta this year, intends to mine tons of a soft, crumbly green volcanic stone called olivine, grind it into pebbles and spread it on shorelines, coves and beaches, where the wave action will weather it down like a river sculpts gravel.
Papakolea Beach, Big Island (Chron photo)
Let's pound some green sand.
Scientists say the process of erosion chemically alters the acidic molecules in seawater and converts carbon dioxide into bicarbonate, thereby taking the heat-trapping gases out of circulation and reversing acidification, one of the primary concerns of global warming. The more the rock breaks down, the more carbon dioxide is taken out of the sea.
It is a natural process that is believed to occur faster in the tropics, where warmer temperatures help the dissolution process. That explains Matzner’s desire to do a trial run there.
“There is enough olivine to remove all human emissions, ever,” Matzner said. “We think this is a viable method to remove CO2 on a large scale.”Some conservatives believe that the whole climate-change/global-warming brouhaha is a progressive plot to have government seize control of the economy.
Well, I don't believe it; given the stakes--the fate of the world--environmentalists should be on board with a solution like olivine pebbles or a "global sunshade" despite some side effects, e.g., a decline in agricultural production ("For agriculture, it might not work that well, but there are other sectors of the economy that could potentially benefit substantially.")
Eliminating fossil fuels by fiat, not by choice, will shrink the economy by $trillions. The magic-bullet solutions will "only" cost in the low $billions and maybe even anti-warmists would be willing to give them a try. The goal is saving the world, not to destroy capitalism, right?
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