Researchers Can Now Cheaply Turn Atmospheric CO2 Back Into Coal

[acri1]

Researchers Can Now Cheaply Turn Atmospheric CO2 Back Into Coal

Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have worked out a cheap and efficient way to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into solid particles of carbon. This new carbon-capture technology could be key to reducing the amount of this dangerous greenhouse gas in our atmosphere.

Most approaches to remove CO2 focus on compressing the gas into a liquid and then injecting it underground. Doing this has significant challenges and there is the possibility that it might eventually leak out from storage sites.

The new approach, reported in Nature Communications, could be more sustainable and prevent unwanted leaks. It is designed in a way that means it could be applied on a large scale and the researchers have been able to resolve previous issues encountered when attempting to turn carbon dioxide into coal.

“While we can’t literally turn back time, turning carbon dioxide back into coal and burying it back in the ground is a bit like rewinding the emissions clock,” co-author Dr Torben Daeneke said in a statement. “To date, CO2 has only been converted into a solid at extremely high temperatures, making it industrially unviable. By using liquid metals as a catalyst, we’ve shown it’s possible to turn the gas back into carbon at room temperature, in a process that’s efficient and scalable.”

The team used a liquid alloy made of gallium, indium, tin, and cerium. The liquid metal was stored in a glass tube with a wire running through it. Some water was added to the air in the glass tube. The pure CO2 was sent into the glass tube as electricity was sent down the wire. The team witnessed the formation of carbon flakes on the surface of the alloy. These could be removed to allow for the continuous capture of carbon.

The only by-products of the process are carbon flakes and pure oxygen. The carbon could just be buried back in the ground or used to produce carbon fiber materials, for example.

“A side benefit of the process is that the carbon can hold electrical charge, becoming a supercapacitor, so it could potentially be used as a component in future vehicles,” lead author Dr Dorna Esrafilzadeh explained.

The research is the first realistic step towards solid storage of atmospheric carbon. And it is sorely needed. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have injected over 1,300 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, about a third of which has been released since the year 2000.

Researchers Can Now Cheaply Turn Atmospheric CO2 Back Into Coal

This could be clutch if it can actually be scaled up.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

One step closer to graphene production and humanity making it past 2100.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

The research is the first realistic step towards solid storage of atmospheric carbon. And it is sorely needed. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have injected over 1,300 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, about a third of which has been released since the year 2000.

To put that in further perspective, the Industrial Revolution started in 1760.

 

[scarhead]

Researchers Can Now Cheaply Turn Atmospheric CO2 Back Into Coal

This could be clutch if it can actually be scaled up.

I pray this or whatever carbon capture scientists are working on get maximum funding and be effective soon. My son was born last year and I want him to experience life and nature without encountering apocalypse scenarios.

 

[GnauzBookOfRhymes]

turn it back into coal, that can be mined again and used in coal fired power plants....then recapture those emissions...self perpetuating dirty energy lmao

i know it's more complicated than that, but that's how a typical right winger would think

 

[Dat Migo]

turn it back into coal, that can be mined again and used in coal fired power plants....then recapture those emissions...self perpetuating dirty energy lmao

i know it's more complicated than that, but that's how a typical right winger would think

Recycling! They're gonna push this as their version of the Green New Deal.

 

[88m3]

good clean coal

 

[Serious]

turn it back into coal, that can be mined again and used in coal fired power plants....then recapture those emissions...self perpetuating dirty energy lmao

i know it's more complicated than that, but that's how a typical right winger would think

Right....
But we maybe we can trick them.

Imagine if we were to significantly reduce CO2 emissions through this method, while closing the loophole and propping up green energy...

 

[Ya' Cousin Cleon]

i post this for a reason

New York Mag’s Climate Disaster Porn Gets It Painfully Wrong

I pray this or whatever carbon capture scientists are working on get maximum funding and be effective soon. My son was born last year and I want him to experience life and nature without encountering apocalypse scenarios.

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

turn it back into coal, that can be mined again and used in coal fired power plants....then recapture those emissions...self perpetuating dirty energy lmao

i know it's more complicated than that, but that's how a typical right winger would think

"I'll put the new coal into the mines, folks. These miners, I love them, I love miners. But they can't just pick up coal off the ground. That's terrible. They want to mine again! I'll let them mine again with the aircoal, believe me."

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

I feel like I have read similar stories in the past. Different processes, sure, but each time the stories reads like the true answer is found. My main concern is nothing never comes of them. I want to see a follow up story with this being applied to some city or state level.

 

[Serious]

I feel like I have read similar stories in the past. Different processes, sure, but each time the stories reads like the true answer is found. My main concern is nothing never comes of them. I want to see a follow up story with this being applied to some city or state level.

We're supposed to have cellphones that charge in less than 30 seconds by now.

Stanford Researchers Unveil New Ultrafast Charging Aluminum-Ion Battery

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

We're supposed to have cellphones that charge in less than 30 seconds by now.

Stanford Researchers Unveil New Ultrafast Charging Aluminum-Ion Battery

I see your cell phone charge story and raise you a new way to produce electricity in things as small as a grain of rice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2010-03-mit-electricity.amp

 

[Pressure]

I feel like I have read similar stories in the past. Different processes, sure, but each time the stories reads like the true answer is found. My main concern is nothing never comes of them. I want to see a follow up story with this being applied to some city or state level.

Lobbyists pay good money

 

[Red Shield]

Lobbyists pay good money

truth be told.. yeah.

hear about way too many pieces of tech that can do some awesome stuff. Then it just poofs...

like novamin