The Robot Tree A New Ecofriendly Technology Environmental Sciences Essay

The paper deals with the concept of a synthetic tree called "ROBOT TREE". The Robot tree has the potential to absorb carbon dioxide which is the major cause for the global warming. Although methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, fluorinated compounds also account for the global warming, carbon dioxide is the major gas which causes ninety percent of the global warming. The definition of global warming, causes and effects of global warming, the solution we propose, how the robot tree (synthetic tree) gives a solution to the effect and the feasibility of the synthetic tree are deeply discussed in this paper. This paper can act as a guidebook to know about the technology with its seeds and weeds and to get the importance of the technology in the approaching future.

INTRODUCTION:

We all know that forests are the treasures of our earth. But now, mankind himself has started to destroy forests -the treasures of our earth. By cutting trees, not only that the rainfall will be reduced, also the temperature will raise enormously, which results in global warming. This causes harm to the whole mankind. Thus the scientists are giving call to protect forest and save mankind. Research is going on regarding the issue. In our paper we propose an astonishing solution to save our earth from global warming.The greenhouse effect is being accelerated by releases of certain gases to the atmosphere that are causing the Earth's temperature to rise.

"WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING???

Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent."

Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth´s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius (0.74 ± 0.18°C, or 1.3 ± 0.32° Fahrenheit). Does not seem all that much? It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years, though, say scientists.

  Their data show that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than it has been for at least a thousand years. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred since 1980. The three hottest years ever observed have all occurred in the last eight years, even.

180px-2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison

MAIN CAUSES FOR GLOBAL WARMING:

Carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrous oxide, methane and ozone are some of the natural gases causing global warming.

CARBON DIOXIDE

Ninety-three percent of all emissions

Generating power by burning carbon based fossil fuels like natural gas, oil, and coal, decomposition, accounting for about one quarter of all global emissions.

METHANE

Twenty times more effective in trapping heat in our atmosphere 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide

Agricultural activities, landfills.

NITROUS OXIDE

Agricultural soil management, animal manure management, sewage treatment, mobile and stationary combustion of fossil fuel, adipic acid production, and nitric acid production.

OZONE

Automobile exhaust and industrial processes.

HYDROFLURO COMPOUNDS (HFCs).

Industrial processes such as foam production, refrigeration, dry cleaning, chemical manufacturing, and semiconductor manufacturing.

PERFLURONIATEDCOMPOUNDS (PFCs).

Smelting of aluminium

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS:

Greenhouse gas emissions could cause a 1.8 to 6.3° Fahrenheit rise in temperature during the next century, if atmospheric levels are not reduced.

Produce extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods.

Threaten coastal resources and wetlands by raising sea level.

Increase the risk of certain diseases by producing new breeding sites for pests and pathogens.

Agricultural regions and woodlands are also susceptible to changes in climate that could result in increased insect populations and plant disease.

The degradation of natural ecosystems could lead to reduced biological diversity.

WHAT GLOBAL WARMING EFFECTS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE FUTURE?

To predict the future global warming effects, several greenhouse gas emission scenarios were developed and fed into computer models.

They project for the next century that, without specific policy changes

Global mean temperature should increase by between 1.4 and 5.8°C (2.5 to 10°F).

The Northern Hemisphere cover should decrease further, but the Antarctic ice sheet should increase.

The sea level should rise by between 9 and 88 cm (3.5" to 35").

Other changes should occur, including an increase in some extreme weather events.

After 2100, human induced global warming effects are projected to persist for many centuries.

The sea level should continue rising for thousands of years after the climate has been stabilized. We have weather up to 40 degree Celsius now.

IMPACTS OF RISE IN MAJOR GREEN HOUSE GAS CO2:

In air the carbon dioxide concentration should be approximately 330 ppm (parts per million).But due to environmental researchers the carbon dioxide content will increase as follows,

2025ƒ 405 to 469 ppm

2050ƒ 445 to 640 ppm

2100ƒ 540 to 970 ppm

We have weather up to 40 degree Celsius now. It is expected that the weather will increase in Tamil Nadu as follows.

In 2025 ƒ 0.4 to 1.1 degree Celsius

In 2050 ƒ 0.8 to 2.6 degree Celsius

In 2100 ƒ 1.4 to 5.8 degree Celsius

SOLUTION WE PROPOSE:

We all know that forests are the treasures of our earth. But, man started to destroy forests and the scientists are giving call to save forest. We all know that forests help to protect the earth from global warming. By cutting trees, not only that the rainfall will be reduced, also the temperature will raise enormously, which causes harm to the whole mankind. The research is going on all the time to save the mankind from global warming. Now, it has been found that robot trees will help to tackle the problem of global warming. In the air, the carbon dioxide content should be 330 ppm (part per million). Day by day it is increasing which results in global warming.

WHAT IS ROBOT TREE???

The scientists are trying to make robot to perform various activities to reduce the physical and mental work of human being. The combination of nature and robots is called Robotany. The scientists Jill Coffin, John Taylor and Daniel Bauen are researching on robot tree. The robot tree does not look like our ordinary tree. The structures of the stem, roots and leaves are present in the robot tree. Does robot tree help to solve the problem of global warming?

I have read in a magazine recently that the experiment done by the researchers at Madurai Kamaraj University on robot tree is successful. Hats off to them. It is really happy news. We have studied in history that the kings of olden days had planted trees on both sides of the road. In the same way we hope that all the roads will have robot trees on both sides in future to prevent global warming and save the earth. It is said that one robot tree is equal to 1000 natural trees. Each robot tree looks more like a giant fly swatter so as to remain as guards of mankind

Klaus Lackner, a professor of Geophysics at Columbia University, is working on an interesting concept:  "synthetic trees".  The idea is to reproduce the process of photosynthesis to capture and store massive amounts of CO2 gas. Nearly 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, roughly the amount emitted annually by 15,000 cars, could be captured by the structure. Paired with a windmill, the carbon-capture tree would generate about 3 megawatts of power, Lackner calculates, making the operation self-sufficient in energy.

synthetic_tree

The scientists are trying to make robot to perform various activities to reduce the physical and mental work of human being. The combination of nature and robots is called Robotany. The scientists Jill Coffin, John Taylor and Daniel Bauen are currently researching on robot tree.

HOW DOES A ROBOT TREE FUNCTION???

Just imagine a normal tree. A normal will have a root, stem and leaves. In the same way, the robot tree also has root, stem, branch and leaf like normal tree. Some plastic poles are fixed in the stem part and in between solar plates are fixed which act as leaves. In the big poles small holes are made and small poles are fixed. This will absorb carbon dioxide in the air. In the inside of big poles there will be calcium hydroxide liquid and the absorbed carbon dioxide will be dissolved in it.

The solar plates produce current and pass current inside the stem, which will separate carbon and oxygen. Oxygen, hydrogen and vapour will come out. The carbon will act with water and become carbonic acid. The carbonic acid will pass down through robots and will be absorbed by the soil Once again.

A sketch of the form and construction of A Tree for Anable Basin

A new "air extractor" technology presented by Klaus Lackner, a professor of Geophysics at Columbia's Earth Institute, offers something no other carbon capture technology on the drawing board has. Unlike conventional carbon capture and storage (also known as geosequestration), which absorbs C02 on-site (i.e. the affluent stream of emissions from power plants), air extractors absorb carbon dioxide from any location on the planet. This means that CO2 emissions can be captured from nearly all large-emitting sources-from stationary factories and power plants to cars and planes in motion. These synthetic trees can "thrive" in any location.

synthetic trees

A computer-generated image of Lackner's "synthetic trees."

Synthetic trees don't exactly look like your average tree with green leaves and roots. Although the design is not finalized, Lackner predicts that the device would look more like a post with venetian blinds strung across it; a box-shaped extractor raised about 1,000 feet tall, adorned with scaffolding lined with liquid sodium hydroxide (commonly known as lye). When exposed, sodium hydroxide (lye) is an absorbent of CO2. So, as air flows through the venetian blind "leaves of the tree", the sodium hydroxide will bind the CO2, sifting out cleaner, about 70-90% less CO2 concentrated air on the other side. Lackner estimates that an area of sodium hydroxide about the size of a large TV screen (a 20 inch diagonal) and a meter in depth could absorb 20 tons of CO2 a year. Paired with a windmill, a carbon-capture tree could generate about 3 megawatts of power.

IS IT FEASIBLE???

The chemical process of using calcium or sodium hydroxide to absorb CO2 has been known for years but the question of whether it can be done in an affordable energy efficient manner has not yet been fully answered. Constructing and erecting the collector device is only 20% of the cost; the remainder of the cost involves prying the CO2 loose from the absorbent and storing it- an energy intensive process. The back of the envelope calculation of total cost supposes 3000 to 5000 rupees per ton captured, which is large as compared to the 1000-2000 rupees per ton on cost that proponents of a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme believe will stabilize atmospheric emissions of CO2. It may seem like too steep a cost to closely consider, but Lackner believes "it's worth looking at things that start out even five times too expensive ".

DEVELOPING CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS):

carbon-capture-and-storage1

Despite common concern that CCS, and thus air capture too, will discourage our society from moving to clean energy alternatives.

Fossil fuels are not running out anytime soon, and if we were to turn all of them into carbon dioxide, we'll have a climate catastrophe. We may run out of oil and gas; you can be skeptical of that. But we won't run out of coal. We either abandon fossil fuels immediately within the next 50 years or figure out a way to do CCS.

"As we head toward 450, 550, even 750ppm this century, environmental leaders are getting serious about carbon capture and storage. A 2005 IPCC report concluded that "carbon capture and storage "has the potential to reduce overall mitigation costs and increase flexibility in reducing greenhouse gases".

Existing carbon capture technology can reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired or natural-gas power plants by 80 to 90 percent, estimates the IPCC .energy efficiency and some renewables are cheaper now, but if the climate begins to tip out of control, then carbon capture and storage can provide a planet-saving insurance policy.

BASIC CHEMICAL REACTIONS WITH ROBOT TREE:

The reaction of sodium hydroxide with carbon dioxide (as carbonic acid) occurs essentially in two steps, first a reaction from carbonic acid to bicarbonate and then to carbonate. This is a simple acid-base reaction. CO2 is an acid anhydrite and NaOH is a base. So reaction gives the salt Na2CO3 and water

another possible product is the salt Na2CO3 that is produced if a 1:2 ratio of CO2 and NaOH is used. A small percentage of moisture present in the absorbent material, (about 3%) is important. CO2 reacts with this moisture to form carbonic acid,

CO2+H 2O->H2CO3

Which in turn reacts with the hydroxide to form the salt of carbonic acid, or sodium carbonate? The absorption of carbon dioxide is expressed as follows: The products of reaction are sodium carbonate and water.

H2CO3 + NaOH -> NaHCO3 + H2O

NaHCO3 + NaOH -> Na2CO3 + H2O

DECARBITE:

DECARBITE® is an absorbing product. This product is sodium hydroxide carried on a silica base. The natural affinity of sodium hydroxide to acid gasses makes it a desirable material to use in the absorption of the acid gas carbon dioxide. The sodium hydroxide content in DECARBITE® is high, approximately 90%, and accounts for the aggressive product performance and exceptional capacity for absorption of carbon dioxide.

The sodium hydroxide content in DECARBITE® is high, approximately 90%, and accounts for the aggressive product performance and exceptional capacity for absorption of carbon dioxide.

The universally accepted Carbon Dioxide absorbent, DECARBITE® is a consumable chemical absorbent. It is a specially formulated mixture of Sodium Hydroxide on to an inert silica carrier providing a surface area especially suited for the rapid, high performance and total absorption of CO2 on contact.

EFFICIENCY:

For the rapid or high performance quantative absorption of CO2 in the ppm range

DECARBITE is color indicating, changing from greenish brown to white upon carbon dioxide saturation. The absorption of carbon dioxide removal or any acid gas using DECARBITE is a chemical reaction, not a physical one. Carbon dioxide reacts with the sodium hydroxide based absorbent and undergoes a complete chemical change. This change is irreversible; therefore the absorbent cannot be regenerated for reuse. This change is clearly perceptible and indicates when spent material is to be discarded.

Occasionally, a condition known as channeling can occur when the gas flow finds holes or areas of least resistance and a channel is formed. The gas flow follows these channels through the absorbent defeating the purpose of scrubbing out the carbon dioxide. DECARBITE eliminates this problem in several ways; the silica binding to the sodium hydroxide keeps the particles from bonding in the presence of moisture which is formed as a byproduct of the absorption reaction. It also aids in preventing the absorbent to coalesce into a solid mass blocking gas flow and causing back pressure across the absorption bed.

The association reaction of NaOH with CO2 is at least 40 times faster than NaOH + HCl at all altitudes below the Na layer. Na species will not affect stratospheric ClOx and O3 chemistry. The conversion of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate is complete at pH 8.3.Phenolphthalein can be used as a color indicator for the titration.

CONCLUSION:

Energy is really a place where more technology is absolutely necessary. Nearly one and half a lakh robot trees are enough for purifying carbon dioxide in the air for one year, approximately. One robot tree is said to have the capacity to absorb 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. It is the amount of carbon dioxide released by 15,000 cars in one year. But robot trees will not help to bring rain. It will protect the earth from global warming.

Cost :( app)

10 feet robot tree-50,00

200 feet robot tree-5 lakhs.

The cost of the robot tree may be high, but the cost of not having prominent technology for global warming may cost even higher. There aren't that many large scale sources of energy could be tapped at the scale the world needs them. Hydro will never be enough, and neither will wind. Solar, nuclear, and fossil could be enough, but they all have flaws. If we don't place big bets on all three, we could find ourselves with none of them working, and we'll have energy crisis of unprecedented proportions. We have studied in history that the kings of olden days had planted trees on both sides of the road. In the same way we hope that all the roads will have robot trees on both sides to prevent global warming and save the earth. It is said that one robot tree is equal to 1000 natural trees.

"Implement robot trees

Prevent global warming,

And thus,

Save the Earth!!!"