Carbon Cycle

On Apollo and Gemini space ships carbon dioxide was scrubbed out of the atmosphere chemically. A reaction of lithium hydroxide and carbon dioxide resulted in lithium carbonate and water.

LiHO + CO2 ---> LiCO3 + H2O

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On earth in the ocean seashells form calcites - calcium hydroxides - from calcium and carbon dioxide . The ocean then absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is an important method of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. In fact, as the earth warms the icecaps melt and the sea level rises. More seashells are made. Carbon is removed from the atmosphere in this way.

The acid test for calcites is the common way to test for lime. Vinegar or Hydrochloric acid is used:

CaCO3 + 2H(+1) ---> Ca(+2) + H2O +CO2

The limestone will fizzie CO2 bubbles when acid is dropped on it.

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Reversing this reaction will cause absorption of carbon dioxide and create a positively charged ion.

For example the Great Pyramid at Giza weighs 13.8 billion pounds. In limestone CaCO3 the carbon is 10 percent by weight. The Great Pyramid then contains 690,000 tons of carbon. Since CO2 is 27% carbon by weight, the Great Pyramid is equivalent to preventing 2.55 million tons of carbon dioxide from being in the atmosphere. Each 2.5 ton block cancels about 1 ton of carbon dioxide.

This doesn’t seem like much compared to a plan for a small power plant to save 335,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Break even for emissions reduction is about $30/ton according to some studies.