Reductionism seems to have become the habit of the contemporary human mind. We are increasingly talking of “the carbon economy” in the context of climate change. We refer to “zero carbon”, as if carbon existed only in fossilised form under the ground. We forget that the cellulose of plants is primarily carbon. Humus in the soil is mostly carbon. Vegetation in the forests is mostly carbon. Carbon in the soil and in plants is living carbon. It is part of the cycle of life.
The problem is not carbon per se. The problem is our increasing use of fossil carbon as coal, oil and gas. While plants ...
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