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To Bury or to Burn: Optimum Use of Crop Residues to Reduce Atmospheric CO2

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Abstract

We argue that sequestering of carbon waste is inherently more efficient andwill probably cost less than using the carbon for biomass burning. The ratioof carbon emitted per unit of primary energy released through combustion, C/E,favors sequestration for fundamental reasons of chemistry and engineering,strongly suggesting a low C/E strategy. This is a more direct way of analysisthan assigning dollar estimates to technologies of which we have as yet littleor no direct experience.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A

    Robert A. Metzger

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-4575, U.S.A.

    Gregory Benford & Martin I. Hoffert

Authors
  1. Robert A. Metzger
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  2. Gregory Benford
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  3. Martin I. Hoffert
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Metzger, R.A., Benford, G. & Hoffert, M.I. To Bury or to Burn: Optimum Use of Crop Residues to Reduce Atmospheric CO2 . Climatic Change 54, 369–374 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016136202309

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016136202309

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