Genetically Altered Trees Could Store Billions of Tons of Carbon
October 3rd, 2010 by 
Developing genetically modified trees and plants could capture billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually and reduce the impacts of global warming, a new U.S. study says. In the study, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory explore methods of enhancing the processes by which plants sequester carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon that can be stored inside the plants — and, ultimately, in the soil.
The scientists said it could be possible to genetically alter plants and trees so they send more carbon to their roots, where some carbon would be absorbed by the soil, where it could be stored for centuries. Another possibility is making plants better resistant to the stresses of growing on marginal land, which would not only improve plant production for bioenergy and food crops but also increase the carbon the plants can pull from the atmosphere. The study is published in the journal BioScience.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
photo: John-Morgan.
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Tags:  carbon carbon capture genetically modified trees global warming Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory sequester | [ Permalink ] |
Tuesday, October 12 Cleantuesday Paris offers a major event on the theme of the capture and sequestration of CO2
With french start up GeoGreen, World leader Veolia Environnement and Anne Senges from the USA
Or, instead of spending a lot of money on trying to patent “nature” we could use what Mother Nature gave us for free instead and plant hemp to capture carbon. One could grow enough hemp to insulate a three-bedroom house in three short months on a lot the size of a rugby pitch (6,800 square meters, or 73,194 square feet).