Why can’t we just sequester CO2 into plants we eat or forests?

Question

I saw a youtube video about how Japan burns materials that can’t easily be recycled to produce energy and captures the CO2 produced from the process. The CO2 is then sold to some local factories to produce various things like fire extinguishers, and some algae farms (I googled this and algae is used to produce food and oil).

I googled that at sea level, CO2 in the atmosphere is at 350 PPM, but certain plants thrive at 1500 PPM.

It got me thinking – why can’t we pump CO2 into indoor farms, plantations or forests to sequester more carbon?

Would that even work? Is the carbon just released into the air again once the plants are eaten or broken down?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Thanks everyone for your responses. I learned a lot here about the carbon cycle and carbon capture tech, and its challenges. I thought if I could pump CO2 into my raised garden beds and seal them up for a few hours a day, I could help (minutely) to take up more carbon from the environment. I guess that would’ve been pointless anyway – I’d have to produce or purchase CO2 which is probably more harmful than helpful.

So in short, there isn’t any real way for individuals to reduce CO2 emissions, other than the usual – minimising power and goods wastage.