Sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere to create carbon nanofibers

[ScienceRocks]

Sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere to create carbon nanofibers
By Nick Lavars - August 20, 2015 2 Pictures

Carbon nanofibers hold a tremendous deal of potential. They may one day be put to use in tougher bulletproof vests, artificial muscles or rebuilding damaged hearts, just to name a few possibilities. But could the greatest gift these little wonders offer humanity be not what they bring into the world but what they take out of it? Scientists have developed a technique that could take the mounting carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and transforms it into carbon nanofibers, resulting in raw materials for use in anything from sports gear to commercial airliners.

Well, we could use this to suck the co2 out of our atmosphere and maybe one day it may become economic to do this to Venus's atmosphere! The economics of this is huge!

 

[mamooth]

The numbers just don't add up. Nobody will be making gigatons of nanotubes. Maybe in the far, far future, but not in our lifetimes. For something to compare with, global steel production is now around 1.6 gigatons/year, and human CO2 emissions are around 26 gigatons/year.

Venus, the key will be to add water, which can pull sulfur and CO2 out of the atmosphere. That is, dropping water-bearing comets into Venus.