Profitable CO2 Capture Arthur Middleton Hughes

Three methods to solve CO2 1. Cap and Trade – expensive and hard to sell. 2. Capture and sequestration – highly expensive. No profit. Electricity costs go up! 3. Create forests in the desert – Big profits. No increase in electricity costs. Government sets rules, but fully reimbursed for their efforts. Plantations are privately owned and financed.

Convert Deserts to Forests Sahara – biggest in the world No law and order Unstable Politically No company would invest here Australia – Second Largest Desert - Law abiding Anxious to promote timber Willing to innovate

Australia Deserts 339 Million Acres – hot, dry, few residents Government could acquire and lease to tree planters. Fresh water can be produced from the sea for 1/5 of a cent per gallon. Water needed for a forest: 960,000 gallons per acre. Net added water needed: 689,000 gallons Tree plantations would pay for the water

Where are the world’s forests today? Very few in Australia

Start with Demo: 8,000 acres

Typical Desalination Plant Desalinaton Plant Perth, Australia

Pilot Tract

Life in Blue Woods Residences, hospitals, police, fire departments, schools, parks, recreation, sports, shopping centers, sewage, trash disposal, and other facilities to insure that these new forests meet the most modern and hygienic standards for workers and residents.

Complete Blue Woods pilot area: 130 square miles. This will produce a big profit after eight years:

Many years to convert all the desert After the pilot, add another. Profits will attract many other investors, and tree planters. Desalination profits will lead to many more plants being built. Over next 30 years most of the desert will be converted to profitable forests.

Eventual Results: $2 Trillion per year 4 billion tons of CO2 captured per year CO2 Capture can be very profitable

How much CO2 needs to be captured? Princeton Carbon Mitigation Initiative: Keeping emissions flat for 50 years will require trimming projected carbon output by roughly 8 billion tons per year by 2060 Australia forests will meet half this amount

What to plant? --Paulownia Trees $8,000 - $12,000 Per Acre Per Year After 8 years

What a ton of CO2 looks like

Huge world market for lumber

Questions: Which is best? Force people to stop burning greenhouse gasses (and raise taxes and prices)? Or plant trees in Australia (no new taxes or increased prices)? One will work. The other won’t.