I don't know if this has been posted yet, but here it is...

http://www.economist.com/science/displayst...tory_id=9253976

I just wanted to get opinions on whether this is feasible...

Venting CO2 into space. Sounds like a dumb idea to me.

It would be hugely wasteful of energy and would probably have unforseen consequenses.

If one has enough energy to buid an ion (by indirect means, loosing efficiency!) of each CO2, he can also split it into C and O2 and bury C...

I have a really bad feeling about this story.

"although CO2 is too rare even in today's atmosphere for the phenomenon to be detected by existing satellites, an equivalent ejection of oxygen, a far more abundant gas, can be detected from space"

plus

"First, he has to ionize more CO2. There are many ways this might be done, but for a first experiment Dr Wong proposes zapping dust in the atmosphere with powerful lasers, to release electrons that can then combine with CO2."


If all the other assumptions were correct, you still have this problem: at 400 ppm, CO2 is 500 times less abundant than O2. So, if you're laser zapping the atmosphere, you have 1 chance to get an CO2 ion and 500 chances to get an O2 ion. That means that, besides ejecting CO2, you'll eject a lot more valuable O2. And, why not, N2, H2O, ALL the air?

The article should say if CO2 is 10000 times more inclined to form ions than O2, so you can avoid ejecting O2. Also, it should say what happens when a CO2 ion collides with other, neutral air molecules - what are the chances that the charge will pass to the other molecule, so you will be ejecting it instead?

"Stairway To Heaven"?? Perhaps "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" would be a better title.