4月中，科學家成功示範從空氣中直接擷取二氧化碳的技術。這是美國哥倫比亞大學和位於亞利桑那州土桑全球研究科技公司（Global Research Technologies）的科學家共同進行的。
當前全球的發電廠排放大量溫室氣體到大氣中，不過，要重新整頓這些電廠使之更為環保，將所費不貲費。科學家表示，建立新技術比翻新既有的設備更簡單且便宜。全球研究科技公司建造的新設備能夠抓取現存工廠的排放氣體，而不增加額外成本。
該公司2004年開始發展這個過濾空氣的設備，最近才成功證明其效用。這個科技首次顯示，放置在冰島的設備可移除在曼谷街道上車輛排放到大氣中的二氧化碳。
這項研發可能解決至目前為止提倡減少溫室氣體人士遇到的3個棘手障礙，包括如何處理百萬量汽車排出佔全球總量20%的二氧化碳量；如何管理現存工廠的排放量；還有如何把碳來源導引到碳丟棄場。
這項設備1平方公尺的開口，每年即可從大氣中抽取10噸二氧化碳。如果一套設備大小是100平方公尺，每年則可萃取1000噸。以這種規模看來，100萬套設備則可移除大氣中10億噸的二氧化碳。根據英國經濟部的史登報告（Stern Review）對氣候變遷的預測，全世界需要在2025年前減少11億噸的碳排放，才能將二氧化碳濃度維持在工業化前的兩倍。
The capture of carbon dioxide, CO2, directly from the air has been successfully demonstrated by scientists at Columbia University and Global Research Technologies, LLC, a technology research and development company based in Tucson, Arizona.
It has been too expensive to re-outfit many of the world's existing power plants to make them more eco-friendly, although they emit massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Building new technologies is easier and cheaper than adding retrofits to existing infrastructure, the scientists said. The new GRT device captures the emissions from existing power plants without imposing retrofit costs.
The technology company began development of the device in 2004 and has recently successfully demonstrated its effectiveness. The technology shows, for the first time, that carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles on the streets of Bangkok could be removed from the atmosphere by devices located in Iceland.
This could present a solution to three problems that until now have posed intractable obstacles for advocates of greenhouse gas reduction - how to deal with the millions of vehicles that together represent over 20 percent of global CO2 emissions, how to manage the emissions from existing infrastructure, and how to connect the sources of carbon to the sites of carbon disposal.
A device with an opening of one square meter can extract about 10 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. If a single device were to measure 10 meters by 10 meters it could extract 1,000 tons each year. On this scale, one million devices would be required to remove one billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. According to the U.K. Treasury's Stern Review on climate change, the world will need to reduce carbon emissions by 11 billion tons by 2025 in order to maintain a concentration of carbon dioxide at twice pre-industrial levels.
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
