Starfish Farms: A viable carbon offset technology?
Posted by Rahul Chitrapu on Sun, Jan 10, 2010
According to a new study by British researchers, starfish and their fellow echinoderms (sea urchins, sea lilies, etc) act as a significant sinks for CO2 by converting it into Calcium Carbonate. Researchers knew echinoderms stored large amounts of calcium carbonate, some have bodies made up of 80 percent of the stuff, but they were still shocked by the results. It turns out, the small animals capture about 0.1 gigatonnes of carbon per year, compared to the 5.5 gigatonnes of carbon human activity pumps into the air annually.
The armchair expert's take on this: start harvesting starfish in coastal areas and generate carbon credits. Too bad Copenhagen did not produce any results. Starfish farms would have been the next big thing.
via EcoGeek
via Nature