As noted here, Sir Richard Branson is serious about carbon load reduction. The head of Virgin Airlines, arguably the most progressive global airline flying, Branson is offering $25 million dollars to the the person who comes up with the best way to remove significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Branson says humankind must realize the scale of the crisis it faces.

“The Earth cannot wait 60 years,” he said at the news conference. “I want a future for my children and my children’s children. The clock is ticking.” He said if the planet was to survive, it was vital to find a way of getting rid of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. He said he believed offering the $25m (£12.5m) Earth Challenge Prize was the best way of finding a solution. Mr. Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore will be a member of the judging panel.
Currently Carbon capture and storage is a key area of research. Scientists have been looking into removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and storing it in oil and gas fields, injecting it deep into the ocean, or chemically transforming it into solids or liquids that are thermodynamically stable. However, these methods have raised concerns, notably because of the possibility of leakage from the storage sites and fears that C02 dissolved in large quantities in the ocean might harm marine ecosystems. Other scientists are also looking at schemes that might “scrub” the air of CO2, collecting the gas for safe storage; but many critics say the energy required to achieve this would make such an approach self-defeating. Sir Richard Branson has already pledged to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) in profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, towards research into renewable energy technologies. Thanks to Treehugger for the headups and the BBC for the graphics below.

1. CO2 pumped into disused coal fields displaces methane which can be used as fuel
2. CO2 can be pumped into and stored safely in saline aquifers
3. CO2 pumped into oil fields helps maintain pressure, making extraction easier

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