> So, the nuclear carbon sequestration machine does appear to be the more
> economical way to remove co2 from the atmosphere.
The beauty of the biological route is that CO2 removal from the air is
a necessary step for all biomass formation. That does not apply to
nuclear power, you'd always have to divert some of the power output
from nuclear to achieve CO2 capture.
In practical terms, think of paper making and well managed landfills
for example. There we've got a current example of a case where the
biomass is not burned, and it's economic.
Or, consider the production of ethanol
C6H12O6 (sugar) goes to 2 CO2 + 2 C2H6O (ethanol)
About half of the mass of the sugar is turned into a pure CO2 stream,
which is ready for sequestration (and that sequestration step could of
course be powered by cheap, clean and renewable* nuclear power).
While some CO2 from ethanol production is currently used by fizzy
drinks makers, that's rather short duration sequestration, I don't
think any is currently being injected underground. Enhanced oil
recovery schemes get their CO2 from other sources I believe.
* even President Bush has called nuclear power "renewable"; there is
no commonly agreed definition of renewable, but, using breeders and
uranium from sea water it is possible to go on using nuclear power for
billions of years, which is renewable enough for me.
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