As Above So Below
Let us journey back to the remote past, when Pangea was the only continent. Sharks and trees had not yet evolved, and the Cambrian explosion had filled the earth with novel life forms in one of the fastest blooms of evolution ever observed. The Ordovician period, 443.8 million years ago, was a warm, greenhouse gas-rich planet where large creatures were the favored design. In the uninterrupted ocean, a new algae quietly determined the fate of the distant future. Life was good for these algae. They floated on the sea surface, consuming carbon, basking in the sun, and reproducing. Being somewhat smaller and newly born, they sought a life of leisure like their parent cells. But things could not possibly go awry—the ocean was replete, and the Earth was significantly colder. The only option for these algae was to make their ocean-wide mat thicker. Younger cells remained toward the surface, while older, carbon-laden cells were forced to the bottom. Their population doubled every few days, so a thick mat was quickly formed. The problem with a thick mat is that it is difficult for oxygen to enter the water, and other sea creatures cannot reach the surface. A massive die-off ensued in the sea, with flakes of algae mat the size of some countries falling to the sea floor. These conditions caused the hydrocarbons to be stored massively on the sea floor, which was a rare opportunity for the algae's solar energy to fossilize. The onset of a new ice age completed this period with a mass extinction event. Two hundred million years later, Pangea began to fragment and migrate into the continents we see today, carrying this fossilized solar energy with it in the form of crude oil deep underground.
Almost 200 years ago, the petroleum industry came into its own, first as lamp oil (much to the appreciation of wales), then as a lubricant for machines, and finally as a dense liquid energy source that accelerated human industry and technology to the level of comfort and convenience we enjoy today. However, this leap forward came at an unexpected cost.
We unleash a tiny bit of the Ordovician period into this age for every gallon of fuel burned, every drop of oil spilled, every lump of coal burned and every wisp of natural gas that warms you. The carbon storage of ancient earth that took millions of years to make will be reintroduced in about 400 total years. Nothing living today has evolved to live in those conditions. This is a problem.
We have developed a plan to capture and sequester carbon dioxide before it can cause a mass extinction event. Humans have a distinct advantage over nature because we have both brains and thumbs. We can employ the grandchild of the ancient algae that caused the Ordovician extinction event, Chlorella Vulgaris, and a small fern, Azolla, to capture and sequester carbon dioxide. Each of our sites can capture 6.8 cubic miles of carbon annually, which is 80% of global emissions. With multiple sites, we can achieve carbon negativity and stabilize climate change.
