Carbon dioxide has been disappearing from the atmosphere for 1.5 billion years.  The age of volcanoes gave us an atmosphere with 12% CO2.  In the never ending series of experiments with matter and energy that is our universe random chemistry chanced on photosynthesis.  The process that takes carbon dioxide, water and energy to make carbohydrates, starches and cellulose all based on the glucose C6H12O6, the "brick" of plant physiology that is used to make fuel, food, fiber, seed and wood.

A 12% CO2 atmosphere is not breathable by animals, but ideal for photosynthesis, bringing forth millions of kinds of green plants. Carbon dioxide is not toxic, but it is suffocating and in the beginning the air had only eight percent oxygen which is not enough to support animal life.  The life cycle of plants produce oxygen from carbon dioxide so animals had to wait until plants made it possible for them to breathe.

Our universe is one that exists in time on a scale such that every possible experiment with matter and energy has been done billions of times.  If anything is possible it will happen on Earth. The question is not if, but when.  Animals simply had to wait their turn.  What you can imagine is, has or will happen somewhere in the universe.  Star Wars is a documentary film for some where and some when.

 We can tolerate up to 1.5% of CO2 in air, 15,000 parts per million.  12% is 120,000 parts per million.  A lot of time had to pass before oxygen breathing animals could live on Earth as the original atmosphere was only about eight percent oxygen.  Plants could afford to be cavalier in the acquiring the most critical component of their physiology, carbon.  Thus, an inefficient stomata design became a permanent part of the green plant architecture and why evolution has stuck on this point is a mystery, but SCAF technology will change that.

   Green plants flourished converting CO2 to oxygen and plant products.  They were so successful CO2 is only a trace gas in air today.   It is an endangered molecular species and bottomed at 280 parts per million in the 19th century. Industrial activity since 1900 has raised the CO2 level to 380 parts per million with good effects but in turn alarmed those who's success is predicated on promoting panic, politicians.

There are 380 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in today’s air, 0.038%.  Green plants transpire huge quantities of water to keep stomata open exchanging water for the carbon dioxide they must have.   CO2 enters the stomata by chance as water vapor leaves.  CO2 is only one of every 3883 molecules in air, but it is favored to enter the plant as it is 54.2 times as soluble in water as oxygen and 73.5 times as soluble as nitrogen. But, the relationship between plants and CO2 in nature is ridiculous given carbon's importance to green plants.  We change that with SCAF technology.

More Food, Fiber and Wood

There are two reasons for improving green plant acquisition of carbon dioxide:  Increased production of food, fiber and wood plus water conservation.  The United Nations declares water sourcing will be the leading world problem after 2010 and it is already high on the list.  New deserts are forming in areas that could be farmed with our systems and stop the decay to desert in the process.  We believe the development of SCAF technology will then be critical to maintaining world peace.  Nations go to war for what they need.  Reducing needs contributes to world peace.

“Aerial Fertilizer”

The textbooks and papers on carbon dioxide plant physiology call it an “aerial fertilizer” or “aerial food.”  None call for an underground use of the gas or its’ aqueous solution as fertilizer.  SCAF is new art.

Authors Sturm and Tape (Nature 411:546-547) declare that from 1949 to 1999 average plant growth improved 10% in 52% of the 176 species examined in their study of the effects of increased CO2.  This is conservative as other studies and experimental work show improvements on the order of 30% which agrees with the change in CO2  quantity.

In the November 15, 2002 issue of National Geographic News author Peter S. Curtis, an Ohio State University scientist summarized 159 studies spanning 20 years and 79 species.  He claimed that while crop yields were increasing the quality of the crops was declining,but he did not include any analyses or data documenting that claim.  He also noted that the quality of soybeans was unaffected which is interesting as soybeans are well-known to be a very demanding plant in terms of fertilizers.  If there were any quality issues they should have appeared in the culturing of soybeans.

          The low quality conclusion is in question as UN study graphs, like one below from http:// climateresearch.com showing a universal improvement in crop yields that strongly correlate with the increase in aerial carbon dioxide and there is no noted loss in quality in any UN studies.

Corn harvests are up by factors of five to 10 from the 1930’s, in spite of corn being a C4 plant which had been thought not to be accepting of additional carbon dioxide.  Hybridization and genetic engineering have been done extensively with corn so it is impossible to gauge the effect of increased carbon dioxide alone.  Now with the new light on C4 plants it is likely that SCAF work with corn will get good results as one study with a C4 plant has shown a 50% improvment in an atmosphere with 700 ppm CO2.  And, where we are bringing CO2  in through the roots whatever differences there are in C3 and C4 plants acceptance of increased aerial carbon dioxide may not apply.

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