Biogeochemical Theory of Climate Change—Global Biotechnology Will Take an Irreplaceable Part of Climatestabilizing Practice

Climate change is becoming a scourge for humanity. Humanity itself has set the cause of this. Use of fossil carbon for energy production, as coal, oil and gas, results in a continuously increasing level of CO₂ in the atmosphere. It hinders the dissipation of heat from the surface of the Earth into space. If nothing will be done humanity is threatened by the coming inhabitability of the Earth for them. Fight against Climate Change will become the primary task for mankind. The means for this fight are from a present view the decarbonization of the national economies, the development of methods of carbon-free production of energy, as e.g. from sunshine, wind or natural hydrogen and the storage of CO₂ or CO₂-creating substances, e.g. biomasses, in the subsoil apart from the atmosphere. Under these conditions the carbon atoms can be reduced, collecting energy.

The decarbonization [1] is in contrast to the increasing demand of carbon from coal, oil and gas for the rising energy production. The development of carbon-free production of energy from sunshine and wind meets the inability of electricity to store large quantities and to transport it over large distances. The use of natural hydrogen, available from previous Earth processes, seems to be promising [2]. The wanted energy can be produced with water as byproduct instead of CO₂. However, a certain level of CO₂ has to be kept in the atmosphere in order to guarantee that the average temperatures of the Earth surface do not drop below the current level and that an undisturbed growth of plants can take place. This seems to be possible by the parallel maintenance of a definite turnover of the carbon deposits on Earth. Measuring and estimating carbon in the soil and subsoil, in the seas, on the Earth surface and especially in the atmosphere is necessary. The creation of an international body for the collection and use of carbon data is recommended. Due to the complex nature of these data and its various influences on natural processes it seems to be advisable to integrate artificial intelligence.

The previous period of industrial development has shown rising use of fossil carbon from the reserves in the subsoil but not an adequate return. The present situation can be described as

Equilibrium condition is, however,

Early hints came through the MIT from its Sleipner experiment [3]. They proposed to store the CO₂ from the oxidation of fossil carbon in the emptied oil deposits. In Germany this mode should be introduced in the lignite industry using natural hollows in the subsoil. But people didn’t like to sit on compressed gases. That technology didn’t come into practice [4]. However, there might be a way out. Instead of storing gaseous CO2 solid or liquefied plant biomasses as built from CO₂ can be stored in the subsoil [5]. Till now without response. That proposal enables not only to store these biomasses. The anaerobic conditions in the subsoil give microorganisms the possibility to grow and to let disproportionate the semi-oxidized components of the biomass into hydrocarbons and CO₂ in two steps:

Step 1: Quite common to store CO₂ as carbohydrates and organic acids through natural plant growth

Step 2: To bring plant biomasses into anaerobic conditions where their carbohydrate and acid compounds disproportionate under microbial or chemical action into hydrocarbons and CO₂

Step 1 happens in the usual way by feeding plants or phototrophic microorganisms through atmospheric CO₂. Step 2 can happen after mechanical transport of the products of step 1 into anaerobic conditions-into apparatuses separating the reactants from the atmosphere or into the subsoil. There, microbial or chemical disproportionations to hydrocarbons and CO₂ take place (see Equation 5 & 6). If there are conditions which do not allow microbial life, e.g. temperatures above 100 °C, chemical disproportionations can take place leading to similar products. However, suitable technologies are not developed until now beginning with the transport of these undoubtedly large quantities of materials to move to the reaction sites. Enzymatic liquefaction of biomasses can economize the required transports [6]. Liquefied biomasses are principally aqueous solutions and would be transportable similar like oil or water. Technologies allowing the conversion of large amounts of solid plant material into liquid maintaining their reduction potential also don’t exist till now.

In the past, CO₂, as by-product of the necessary energy production from fossil carbon, has been kept away from the atmosphere without costs by the existence of natural CO₂ absorbers, as e.g. the oceans. These CO₂-catching reserves are approaching now their saturation. It has become the task of man with his technology to ensure a constant and favourable CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere, subcritical for Climate Change and not critical for climate constancy with regard to avoid lowering the average temperatures at the Earth surface under the present ones as well as to avoid disturbances of plant growth.

However, exact figures about these CO₂ concentrations are not known. But the time when it was able to let absorb excess CO₂ by nature without costs reaches its end. Now, the handling of excess CO₂ costs money. It cannot be saved totally, but it can be minimized regarding the necessary concentrations for processes vital for humans. This is achieved best by separating CO₂-producing substances as plant biomasses from the atmosphere. If they are not harvested and stored apart from the atmosphere in due time they disintegrate at the end of their growth in presence of molecular oxygen to CO₂ (and H₂O, some minerals and the inherent energy)

The mechanical transfer of biomasses into anaerobic conditions provides their use both directly for storage in order to avoid Climate Change and indirectly by chemical or microbial transformation into hydrocarbons appropriate for machinery drive.

CO₂ is a by-product of all energy-delivering processes. Its uptake by plants closes the cycle. Engine of Climate Change is the conversion of fossil carbon compounds into useful energy accompanied by CO₂ formation, which thereby increases its concentration in the atmosphere, cco₂, up to critical values that trigger Climate Change. This situation is now given. To avoid this situation, adult plants can be harvested and transported into the subsoil. This prevents CO₂ increase in the atmosphere

Thus, a subcritical value of CO₂ can be maintained in the atmosphere according to the amount of the exported CO₂-producing plant material into the subsoil, which shall correspond to the fossil CO₂ brought into the atmosphere by the energy-producing process

Energy supply is secured. Climate Change cannot occur.

This method will show all the better effects, the more effectively the transport technologies can be designed. They combine the reactions of the natural carbon cycle to a natural whole. However, this theory leaves unanswered questions primarily these how components of the biomass that do not fit the decarboxylation picture can be brought to be converted into hydrocarbons. Experimental investigations are required. If a new technical name is wanted for the described method, “subsoilfill” may be considered.

Thus, decarbonization of the economy alone does not be the right way to get rid of Climate Change. Rather, a couple of methods including the carbonization of the economy should be investigated. The decarbonization calls for the renunciation of the currently indispensable methodology of human energy supply, the oxidation of carbon compounds. The presently offered alternative based on electric energy from light and wind is despite significant spread not sufficient because its energy cannot be stored in line with its demand. (Oil and gas can be stored in any quantities, electric energy not. Oil and gas are exchanged between continents, electric energy not. Flying is usual with oil, with electric energy not). The question is whether there are principally and economically more favourable methods for avoiding Climate Change than the method of subsoil fill. If there is nothing more favourable, subsoil fill might be developed to application maturity. Necessary preliminary work for this is to gather more knowledge about the formation of hydrocarbons from biomasses and the development of energy-saving transport of plant masses from their area-bound generation to their point shaped storage and processing.

If the biomass remains as a living plant or microorganism connected to the atmosphere it can remain alive and increase its weight in accordance with the seasons. Once, its lifetime has elapsed CO₂ is formed again from that biomass under the influence of molecular oxygen. Biomass can be seen as a temporary CO₂- storage. Its transfer into the subsoil extends its storage effect and creates the possibility of anaerobic conversion of the biomass increasing its value.

Hydrocarbons and CO₂ are the end products of the anaerobic degradation of plant biomass in the subsoil. Hydrocarbons must be transported to the surface and there to its users. Methane as a gaseous hydrocarbon is mixed with CO₂. The “blemish of beauty” is the occurrence of CO₂ in the anaerobic disproportionations. Either it is technically intercepted- then as mixture with methaneor it wanders through the subsoil with the tendency to rise into the atmosphere. What arrives there increases the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Measurements of CO₂ and correspondingly increased transport of biomass into the subsoil are required.

This closes the circle. To the previously valid parts of the carbon cycle have been added a further one, the anaerobic part. This completes the picture of the carbon cycle showing a phototrophic as well as an aerobic and an anaerobic part. The engine of the complete carbon cycle is the phototrophic synthesis of mesooxidized carbon compounds. The engine of useful biological energy production is the conversion of the semi-oxidized products to CO₂. And the engine of delivery of hydrocarbons to human industry is the anaerobic disproportionation of the semi-oxidized products into hydrocarbons and CO₂.

The complete Carbon Cycle can be formulated as follows:

With the help of the reactions of the complete carbon cycle, organism-friendly energy is raised to the level of machine-friendly energy. This significantly expands the scope of biological energies. It should be noted that in the case of methane production a separation of the methane from the CO₂ is advantageous.

These processes of energy shift, the disproportionations in the subsoil, provide hydrocarbons. With them, a process can be constructed, as is customary for the use of fossil materials. The current benefit lies in the fact that the CO₂ coming from the process of energy acquisition is not a burden for the atmosphere, since its raw material comes from atmospheric CO₂. So, there is no worry about the CO₂ with this type of energy generation. It can be released into the atmosphere without harm.

In addition-and this has an inestimable significance for the future-the process of energy generation from carbon compounds can be continued when the supplies of fossil carbon come to an end.

Thus, man is able to use nature for his own purposes through biotechnology without causing damage to them. In this way, man secures his existence on earth.