Carbon Engineering says it can recycle CO2 from the air
The scienti c consensus on climate warming is it’s real, it’s likely due to human activity, and that it’s a growing threat to life on Earth.
One reason for climate change is the amount of carbon dioxide humanity has introduced into the atmosphere. CO levels are now higher than at any 2 time during the last 800,000 years. Carbon dioxide absorbs heat energy from the sun that would otherwise be lost. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more heat is retained.
Now a team of scientists from
Harvard University and the company Carbon Engineering claim they’ve discovered a way to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Their research was recently published in Joule, an American scientic journal. Capturing carbon dioxide from the air isn’t new technology. But experts have previously estimated it would cost at least US$600 to remove a metric ton of carbon dioxide. Carbon Engineering says it can do the same for US$94 to US$232.
The Bill Gates-backed company says their method has already been tested on a small plant in British Columbia. Briey explained; outside air is sucked into a factory and exposed to an alkaline liquid.
The liquid, now containing carbon dioxide from the outside air, undergoes a round of chemical treatments. The carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen and converted into liquid fuels, like gasoline and diesel.
When burned for energy, Carbon Engineering’s fuel would still release carbon dioxide back into the air. But because the carbon dioxide was recycled from the atmosphere, it wouldn’t be adding more back into the environment.
Carbon Engineering is now seeking funding to build an industrial version of its plant, which it says can be completed by 2021.