[dcwardell]

Crazy genetics ideas I would like explored

A modified tree that drops nuts of (nearly) pure graphite or some other form of nondecomposable carbon which we can easily harvest and sequester.

Photosynthesis in humans to supplement our energy consumption. Shoutout to Knights of Sidonia.

I understand the ethical issues surrounding the second one.

[semi-extrinsic]

I believe the graphite nut proposal is too inefficient to work. A single large tree absorbs around 30 kg of CO2 per year. If it was able to put 10% of that into graphite nuts (which would be a very good efficiency), you end up with 0.8 kg of graphite nuts per tree per year.

To match the IEAs projections for carbon capture (7.5 gigatonnes CO2 captured per year in 2050) you would need around 3*10^12 trees. That's about the same as the total number of trees in the world. So you need to replace all of the worlds trees, with the corresponding destruction of many of the biggest ecosystems on earth.

[pkdpic_y9k]

Thats a pretty solid breakdown, but that 3x10^12 was a little more hope-inspiring than I was expecting. Seems like a workable part of a larger multi-pronged solution if you streamlined the plants metabolism (?). Then again I dont know what in the h*ll Im talking about so theres that...

[onlyrealcuzzo]

As someone who knows next to nothing about genetics, it's interesting to me that we haven't engineered a tree that grows faster than a hybrid poplar but thicker than a oak or sequoia (for carbon sequestration, and lumber).

An added benefit would be if the wood after harvested lasted longer than a cedar.

I'm guessing the reason this isn't possible is more due to the fact that it's just not financially worth the investment than it being too difficult.

But I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about this stuff.

[kaba0]

> A modified tree that drops nuts of (nearly) pure

Well, we sort of have that in the form of specifically engineering bacteria to create some drugs, notably insulin. Though I’m sure graphene require additional biological structure and that is a much harder problem them adding/removing a few genes.

[deegles]

How about a fast growing bamboo variant that is denser than water, so that it can be grown and then dumped into the deep ocean to sequester carbon.

[genezeta]

You may -or may not, of course- enjoy Daniel Suarez's Change Agent [1]. Probably not his best but still entertaining and interesting.

[1] https://isbn.nu/978-1-101-98466-6

[toomuchtodo]

Kudos on this comment. Had never considered the Bosch process (using hydrogen) for sequestering CO2 into graphite until reading this.

[MichaelMoser123]

... or turning people into monadic supermen.