Cake To Save The Planet
By Anneka Nilsmark
Forget nuclear power stations and tidal barrages, there’s an exciting new solution to global carbon emissions which involves turning carbon dioxide into bicarbonate of soda.An American firm claims it can capture 90 percent of the CO2 emitted from a coal-burning power station and turn it into the harmless baking ingredient. So presumably, not only do we get less pollution, we also get more cake – surely that’s the perfect definition of a win-win situation.
Baking cakes would hopefully be the preferred use of this green product, but bicarb can also be used for a whole suit of things from cleaning products to removing the odours from kitty litter trays. But if there is too much to go round, it can simply be buried in mines.
The whole process becomes even more appealing with the revelation that the new system also removes 97 percent of all the heavy metals produced by power stations. In 2004, 26 percent of the world’s power supply came from coal and it also accounted for 39 percent of the CO2 emissions. With figures expected to continue rising beyond 2010, it seems vital to find a solution to the carbon emission problem.
Despite much debate amongst historians, Marie Antoinette is widely attributed to the phrase “let them eat cake”. Whoever it was that uttered this immortal phrase, they may have been way ahead of their time in seeing the benefits of baking to save the planet.Your Say:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the bicarbonate of soda is used to make cakes, isn't the carbon dioxide that was stored in it initially released back into the atmosphere? Isn't that carbon dioxide what makes the cakes rise? And every time the bicarbonate of soda is used, the carbon dioxide is released back to the atmosphere. Sounds like a half-baked solution to me.
Anand
Other ways to save the planet:
Crazy - Breathe and exercise less
Unlikely - Become vegan
Spoof - Solar panels to power the USA
Divine - Help from him upstairs
Extermination - Get rid of humans
Image: Kashmere
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