The new development comes from researchers from biotechnology company Living Carbon. They say their trees are extremely good at absorbing large amounts of CO₂. In a modest trial so far, the initiative has planted about 300 acres of modified cottonwood trees.

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The company expects that if 4 million acres of such trees are planted by 2030, will be able to absorb more than 600 megatons of CO2 from the atmosphere₂or about 1.6 percent of global annual emissions. And while this is still very small, it outperforms all other carbon capture methods available today, is easily scalable, and is significantly cheaper than building large factories.

Living Carbon’s approach is as follows: Make trees more efficient at photosynthesis – the process by which plants use CO₂ and sunlight to create sugar and oxygen as a byproduct. This is not easy to do, but the project’s scientists say they have found a clever solution. Living Carbon trees are designed to grow larger and faster while storing more carbon.

Besides trees, other researchers, including those at the Salk Institute for Biological Research, are studying how crops such as rice, corn and wheat can be modified to better absorb carbon. Humanity cultivates these plants in large quantities for food, so we can combine both purposes. Since these crops don’t live as long as trees, researchers are trying to give them larger, deeper roots that can store carbon underground longer, even after they’ve been harvested or died.

They are not ready yet

So far, scientists are not ready for mass landing. They say that in order for their plants to combat greenhouse gases, they must first understand how they behave in real non-greenhouse conditions under changing climate conditions. The proliferation of millions of trees that store carbon for longer periods of time may have unexpected consequences for natural habitats. As for crops, it’s unclear how increased carbon storage in them might affect soil viability.

Other skeptics believe that such developments are merely “distractions” and that there is no reason to expect that “super plants” will save us all, so more efforts should be devoted to overhauling energy infrastructure and ways to reduce emissions.