{"id":21405,"date":"2025-10-03T16:26:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=21405"},"modified":"2025-10-03T16:26:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:26:48","slug":"400-million-40-years-mega-project-atmosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/400-million-40-years-mega-project-atmosphere\/21405\/","title":{"rendered":"400 million tons for 40 years \u2014 A mega project to \u201cdrink\u201d the atmosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>China plans to &#8220;drink&#8221; in the atmosphere. While China will not literally drink the atmosphere, China is keen on addressing one of the gravest atmospheric problems: carbon dioxide (CO\u2082). Over the last 40 years, China has been involved in numerous ecological engineering and afforestation projects, resulting in a total <strong>reduction of 400 million tons of CO\u2082<\/strong>. China is not just stopping with the reduction of 400 million tons of CO\u2082 under its belt, but the country seeks to transform the CO\u2082 into vital food resources to address the issue of food insecurity as well.<\/p>\n<h2>400 million tons of CO\u2082 reduced in about 40 years<\/h2>\n<p>Within 40 years, China has made a concerted effort to preserve its natural ecosystems. It was back in 1980 that China put forth large afforestation campaigns, which included the <em>Three-North Shelter Forest Program<\/em> among other prominent programs. With such lucrative efforts in place, China has produced many green carbon-absorbing forests.<br \/>\nWith a reduction of 400 million tons of CO\u2082 in 40 years, a reduction of about 16 billion tons of CO\u2082 will result in the next four decades. The reason China is engaging in afforestation efforts is to reverse the ecological damage and stabilize the carbon cycle. At the center of these reforestation projects lies improved soil quality, preserved biodiversity, and the fight against desertification. China is proving that while engaging in efforts to prevent climate change, the country can reap economic and ecological benefits as well.\u00a0 With forests absorbing large quantities of CO\u2082, China&#8217;s technological initiatives have come to the fore.<\/p>\n<h2>China is transforming CO\u2082 into a source of protein<\/h2>\n<p>Chinese scientists are looking at<strong> converting CO\u2082 into a high-protein food<\/strong> with advanced biotechnology. As per the study conducted a<em>t Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University<\/em> and the <em>Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology<\/em>, \u00a0CO\u2082 and electricity will be converted into a single-cell protein (SCP).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The system will convert CO\u2082 into acetate as per the anaerobic microbial electrosynthesis phase.<\/li>\n<li>In the second phase called aerobic bacteria the genus alcaligenes will consume this acetate to produce SCP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After both phases, protein-rich biomass with a 74% protein yield will result. The protein produced is only suitable for animal feed but is also showing promising results in terms of being safe for human consumption. The food produced will be a plant-based alternative but a strong source of protein.<br \/>\nChina is in this manner drinking the atmosphere by turning a harmful substance like CO\u2082 into a nutritious food source and in the process the country is addressing issues of food insecurity and climate change.<\/p>\n<h3>What environmental perks are on offer with aforestation?<\/h3>\n<p>A <strong>circular carbon economy is being created<\/strong> where CO\u2082 is not seen as toxic waste, but a \u00a0form of feedstock. With fewer resources, minimal waste, and no need for balancing chemicals, China&#8217;s identified process is beneficial and sustainable.<br \/>\nThe system reassesses how high-protein food can be produced. Moreover, astronauts aboard China\u2019s Tiangong space station have been part of testing the conversion of CO\u2082 into oxygen and organic material by relying on principles of artificial photosynthesis. It is clear that the core premise of the system can be employed in other systems as well. While this may not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/39000000000-liters-feed-22-gw-china\/20677\/\">unlock unlimited energy<\/a> like China&#8217;s other projects can, it is a key strategy towards China becoming the global leader in sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n<h2>China is taking the lead in terms of global sustainability<\/h2>\n<p>China has utilized a strategy whereby climate change and food insecurity can be addressed. In the process, China is also planting billions of trees so as to engineer microbes responsible for turning CO\u2082 into a food source. The <strong>40-year project has yielded noteworthy results<\/strong> and is combining natural ecosystems with synthetic biology. This, however, is not the only initiative that China is undertaking. China is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/china-is-turning-water-into-energy\/13425\/\">turning 12 trillion litres of water into energy <\/a>in a project that is not the Three Gorges project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China plans to &#8220;drink&#8221; in the atmosphere. While China will not literally drink the atmosphere, China is keen on addressing &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"400 million tons for 40 years \u2014 A mega project to \u201cdrink\u201d the atmosphere\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/400-million-40-years-mega-project-atmosphere\/21405\/#more-21405\" aria-label=\"Read more about 400 million tons for 40 years \u2014 A mega project to \u201cdrink\u201d the atmosphere\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}