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Wednesday, 4th November 2009 Change Date Latest Issue

Branson offers £12.8m to beat climate change

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Published Date: 09 February 2007
VIRGIN boss Sir Richard Branson today offered a 25 million dollar prize (£12.8 million) to scientists to find a way to help save the planet from climate change.
Flanked by former US vice president Al Gore and other distinguished environmentalists at the launch in London, Sir Richard called for scientists to come up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Describing the challenge as the largest prize ever offered, Sir Richard said: "The earth cannot wait 60 years. We need everybody capable of discovering an answer to put their minds to it today.

"We have to convince many people that the threat is urgent and real. We have only our own ingenuity and we have no hope of a meaningful solution unless we find a way to work together."



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  • Last Updated: 09 February 2007 1:25 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Climate change , Virgin
 
1

twowheel loon,

09/02/2007 16:55:42

My first thought on a way to do this would be to set up a c02 extraction plant in antarctica where at times it is theoretically cold enough for dry ice to form at certain times of year, I say theoretically because I remember reading something about it not actually happening due to an atmospheric pressure issue. But it would probably require far less energy input at these low temperatures than trying to extract it in a tropcal or temprate location. What to do with it once you have the solidified dry ice (c02) hmm haven't thought about that bit yet.
Just my 2 pennyworth.

2

Cristo,

USA 09/02/2007 17:29:25

This guy is only "wasting his money".The IPCC meeting in Paris had created "fear" to humans especially to the people who are "ignorrant of the last ice age".These anti-capitalist scientists move to the environmental movement to "continue pursuing their anti-free enterprise" goals.They "just want money" from ignorrant people for their"nonsense research"(and pocket the money) that focus only the present "BUT" they do not "explained was causes" of the "disappearance of the Last Ice Age". The "Polar ice caps" on Mars are "melting". How did our CO2 emmissions get all the way to Mars. Are there somebody "more intelligent than scientists" could explain about this Ice caps on Mars?

3

twowheel loon,

09/02/2007 23:01:02

ok done a bit more reading, apparently carbon dioxide is not a totally inert substance, when exposed to extremely high temperatures it breaks down into carbon and oxygen, the oxygen could be released back into the atmosphere and the now inert carbon could be stored as pellets/bricks etc or used as building materials or processed as carbon fibre. So what we need is a way to extract the c02 and then superheat it.

1 do we cover antarctica with nuclear power plants and giant vacuam chambers.

2 Do we cover antarctica with giant vacuam chambers and construct huge solar satellites to microwave beam power back to earth to superheat the co2.

3 Do nothing (I'll be dead before it matters)

4 New ideas appreciated, rock on mr Branson for giving the big brains a bit of financial encouragement.

4

JDEZ,

Seattle 10/02/2007 03:00:37

Maybe the genetic engineers will create some kind of helium enriched organism that can float up and consume emissions in the same way organisms are used to convert oil spills to harmless organic material

5

Boghos L. Artinian,

Beirut 10/02/2007 14:39:26

Come Kudzu

Come kudzu, conquer the earth!
Far worse than oxygen dearth,
A horrible greenhouse gas
Is accumulating, alas!
Cool the earth, breath this menace
That runs the earthly furnace.
Overwhelm the forests of concrete,
On every bare spot set your feet.
Cover all expanses in green;
Let no naked ground be seen.
Man cannot stop burning coal and gas,
CO2 is winning, alas!

Boghos L. Artinian MD

6

Stephen Hartley,

Banbury, UK 10/02/2007 20:04:59

They will come up with an idea to somehow absorbe the CO2 but there may be a limited supply and eventually other poisonous gases will have built up in the atmosphere. There is evidence to suggest this happened on Venus and the product was irreversable.
The previous writer got it right, the only way to save the earth is to revert it back to its natural state.


 

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