Article by: Marlene Cimons, Nexus Media, https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/carbon-capture-conversion<\/p>\n
Images by: Pixabay, Joule<\/p>\n
Like many researchers, Phil De Luna finds inspiration in nature\u200a\u2014\u200ain this case, the way plants use photosynthesis to make food from carbon dioxide,\u00a0water<\/a>, and sunlight. He envisions a day when scientists will use water and renewable energy to transform carbon dioxide into products society can use, such as fuel, medicine, or feed for livestock. While scientists tend to talk about carbon capture and storage\u2014one approach to fighting\u00a0climate change<\/a>\u200a\u2014\u200aDe Luna thinks the future instead will be about\u00a0carbon capture<\/a>\u00a0and conversion.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world needs more solutions to climate change. If we can design and engineer technologies that use CO2<\/sub>\u00a0rather than fossil fuels to meet our chemical and fuel manufacture needs, then we can completely recycle carbon in a closed loop,\u201d said De Luna, a doctoral candidate in materials science at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n Humans are altering the climate<\/a>\u00a0by burning coal, oil and gas, releasing carbon that was once buried underground into the sky, increasing the volume of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Fuels made from captured carbon\u2014instead of coal, oil, or gas\u200a\u2014\u200aadd no additional CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to the atmosphere when burned.<\/p>\n Once the technology that makes this happen becomes wide spread, \u201cwe can continue to meet the world\u2019s energy demands using renewable energy, while also providing a source for the consumer goods and materials that we need every day,\u201d De Luna added. \u201cThis technology has the potential to provide complete sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, carbon capture typically involves\u00a0grabbing CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants<\/a>, then storing them underground so they can\u2019t enter the atmosphere and heat the planet. De Luna and his colleagues, including Oleksandr Bushnuyev, a University of Toronto postdoctoral fellow, are studying developing technologies that could make storage secondary\u200a\u2014\u200aor even unnecessary. A\u00a0study<\/a>describing their work appears in the journal\u00a0Joule<\/em>.<\/p>\n