Disclaimer:  I'm trying to ensure this project becomes/remains empirically-sound.  Please let me know if this project strays from science.  I believe preventing an ecological collapse is a civic duty, and though I'm not qualified, I'm responsible for my efforts sustaining life on the planet.

Initial fact-finding:

I'm planning on chasing down the following information:

Typical CO2 generated per Watt of power from common power plants.

Typical CO2 absorption per acre deciduous forest.  (Why not?)

I figure with these metrics, I can get a handle on how stupidly-ambitious and ridiculous this undertaking could be.  

If we ever had some magical widget that'd negate CO2 emissions, it'd have to compete against these metrics above to be valid.  

Found the following source for some data on the subject.  Digging through it tomorrow.

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/state/