7 of 8
BACKNEXT
Biochar
Biochar
Currently farmers, foresters, and others that dispose of plants and trees usually leave them in the field to rot, or they burn them. Both those actions release carbon into the atmosphere.

How it works: This plan calls for farmers and the like to feed their waste into a machine that turns it into charcoal, seen here. The charcoal - or biochar - is then buried in the soil.

That would keep up to 40% of the carbon in the plant out of the atmosphere, and make the soil richer at the same time, said Jim Fournier, president of Biochar Engineering Corp.

Why it might not work: Questions remain over whether biochar could absorb enough carbon to make a difference in global warming.

NEXT: Hurricane-killing wave pump

Last updated December 02 2009: 10:52 AM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
More Galleries
Tech's highest paid CEOs
Tech's highest paid CEOs
This year's 12 top paid tech CEOs all make more than $15 million annually. More
5 super-cool supercomputers
5 super-cool supercomputers
The Chinese reclaimed the top spot on June's 'Top500' fastest supercomputers list with a system almost twice as fast as any other. More
5 great stocks for the long haul
5 great stocks for the long haul
Some investments make sense at particular stages. Then there are the stalwarts. We've asked five elite fund managers for their top long-term stock picks. More

Special Offer
Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2013 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .