Carbon

One little element causing so many problems in this brave new world. The climate geniuses claim that if we can control the output of carbon dioxide, Gaia would instantly turn rosy on us. There are so many forms of carbon, that this element has become a buzzword all by itself. Lets take a step back and look at the element carbon in a slightly different light.

Carbon as an element has several allotropic forms. We are very familiar with two of these forms, diamond and graphite. Diamonds have a regular three dimensional structure where tetrahedral units branch in every direction. Graphite has rings of carbon atoms in planar sheets that can smoothly rub off each other to leave a carbon residue - writing with a pencil. Coal and petroleum are mass forms of carbon that has many different hydrocarbon compounds combined together.

Hydrocarbons are compounds made from carbon and water. Organic matter has some sort of auto-catalytic life component that allows reformulation into substances like carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, lipids and other biological forms. When we use carbon for energy production, the form of carbon is shifted by breaking down these building blocks and recombining them into new forms.

Methane and Carbon Dioxide are the two compounds that provide the energy extremes for carbon. It would be wise to stop the combustive energy processes before we overwhelm the ecosphere. In order to make sense of the carbon future - Dr. Lenny has teamed up with Wonder Earth Partners to provide a forum to ask and answer questions about carbon sequestration in natural systems. The discourse will be part of an on-line carbon conference - which will feature speakers and panels that sort out the business prospects involved in climate change. Hopefully, we will find some ways of bio-mimetically reducing the airborne carbon load without diminishing the flux of life in our Gaia-sphere.