A new, biomass-based material developed by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers can be used to repeatedly capture and release carbon dioxide.
The material is primarily made from lignin, an organic molecule that is a main component of wood and other plants, and it can take up carbon dioxide (CO2) from concentrated sources or directly from the air. The research appears in Advanced Materials.
"The beauty of this work is the ability to precisely control the capture and release of CO2 without high pressure or extreme temperatures," said study co-author Hoyong Chung, an associate professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. "Our testing showed that this material's structure stayed the same even after being used multiple times, making this a promising tool for mitigating carbon emissions."
Climate scientists call on Labour to pause £1bn plans for carbon capture
Wed 25 Sep 2024 13.00 BST
Leading climate scientists are urging the government to pause plans for a billion pound investment in “green technologies” they say are unproven and would make it harder for the UK to reach its net zero targets.
Labour has promised to invest £1bn in carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) to produce blue hydrogen and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations – with a decision on the first tranche of the funding expected imminently.
However, in the letter to the energy security and net zero secretary, Ed Miliband, the scientists argue that the process relies on unproven technology and would result in huge emissions of planet-heating CO2 and methane – gases that are driving the climate crisis.
“We strongly urge you to pause your government’s policy for CCUS-based blue hydrogen and gas power, and delay any investment decision … until all the relevant evidence concerning the whole-life emissions and safety of these technologies has been properly evaluated,” they write.
The letter, which is signed by leading climate scientists from the UK and US as well as campaigners, argues the plans would:
Lock the UK into fossil fuel production for generations to come.
Result in huge upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.
Rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) during the production of hydrogen – technology they say has been abandoned in the vast majority of similar projects around the world.
Pose a danger to the public if there are any leaks from pipes carrying the captured carbon. At least 45 people had to be taken to hospital after a leak in the US.
Say Hello to Chonkus, The Sizeable Cyanobacterium That Could Combat Climate Change by Holly Large
November 8, 2024
Introduction:
(IFL Science) n volcanic ocean vents off the coast of Italy, researchers have discovered a new strain of cyanobacteria that could pack a particularly effective punch when it comes to capturing carbon dioxide, one of the driving forces of climate change.
The cyanobacterium, or alga, is officially known as UTEX 3222, but the team behind its discovery have given it the far catchier nickname of “Chonkus” – because, in the presence of carbon dioxide, this thing grows very, very quickly.
Additional Extract:
Experiments revealed that Chonkus was a fast grower – much faster, in fact, than other fast-growing strains of alga, capable of doubling its colony size in just over 2 hours when in liquid. Even the individual cells grew to higher density and within these swollen cyanobacteria, the team also found storage granules packed with carbon.
Those traits by themselves make Chonkus a desirable candidate for sequestering carbon, but it turns out this strain has a triple whammy up its sleeve – it also sinks much more quickly than other fast-growing strains of cyanobacteria.
Capturing large amounts of CO2 and sending it to the seafloor for quick collection makes Chonkus pretty appealing to those exploring how we can use what nature has already provided us with to tackle the problem of climate change.
How to Permanently Get Rid of Carbon Dioxide April 9, 2025
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) We have to stop emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) if we want to save the climate – there is no doubt about that. But that alone will not be enough. In addition, it will also be necessary to capture CO2 that is already present in the atmosphere, and store it permanently, for example by pumping it deep into the ground. This naturally raises the question of what happens to this CO2 in the long term. Is it guaranteed to remain in the ground, or is it possible that it could escape over decades or centuries?
Highly sophisticated numerical simulations on supercomputers are now showing for the first time exactly what happens when CO2 mixes with groundwater: in a complex interplay between CO2-richer and CO2-poorer areas, the CO2-richer water slowly sinks downwards, allowing the CO2 to be permanently stored underground.
CO2 rises – but CO2 dissolved in water sinks
Deep underground, the pressure is so high that carbon dioxide remains liquid, but with a much lower density than water. One might therefore think that CO2 would immediately drift upwards when pumped into the groundwater. But the matter is somewhat more complicated.
“Pure CO2 has a lower density than water, but the situation changes when CO2 is dissolved in water. When the two are mixed, the total volume decreases, creating a denser liquid,” explains Marco De Paoli, head of the research project. Water with a high CO2 content has a higher density than water with a lower CO2 content and therefore sinks.
Modular carbon capture tech slashes cargo ship CO2 emissions by 70%
By David Szondy
May 08, 2025
https://newatlas.com/environment/carbon ... ssions-70/
The air at sea might be getting a bit cleaner as technology group Wärtsilä puts its Carbon Capture Solution (CCS) system on the market. The modular apparatus is claimed to capture as much as 70% of the CO2 emissions from cargo ship exhaust systems.
Whether because of environmental concerns or a self-interest in economic survival, shipping companies are showing an increasing interest in new ways of reducing their carbon emissions. In 2022, cargo ships accounted for 858 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, with lager ships making up 79% of that figure. On the whole, the shipping sector is estimated to produce up to 3% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions and with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is aiming at a net-zero target by 2050. With fines after that date of up to US$380 per tonne of unsanctioned carbon, emission reduction technologies are drawing a lot of attention these days.
A team of researchers at Rice University have discovered a surprisingly simple method for vastly improving the stability of electrochemical devices that convert carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals, and it involves nothing more than sending the CO2 through an acid bubbler.
Their study, published in Science, addresses a major bottleneck in the performance and stability of CO2 reduction systems: the buildup of salt that clogs gas flow channels, reduces efficiency and causes the devices to fail prematurely.
Using a technique they call acid-humidified CO2, the researchers extended the operational life of a CO2 reduction system more than 50-fold, demonstrating more than 4,500 hours of stable operation in a scaled-up reactor—a milestone for the field.
Electrochemical CO2 reduction, or CO2RR, is an emerging green technology that uses electricity, ideally from renewable sources, to transform climate-warming CO2 into valuable products like carbon monoxide, ethylene or alcohols.
Researchers are developing a living material that actively extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria grow inside it, forming biomass and solid minerals and thus binding CO2 in two different manners.
The idea seems futuristic: At ETH Zurich, various disciplines are working together to combine conventional materials with bacteria, algae and fungi. The common goal: to create living materials that acquire useful properties thanks to the metabolism of microorganisms—"such as the ability to bind CO2 from the air by means of photosynthesis," says Mark Tibbitt, Professor of Macromolecular Engineering at ETH Zurich.
An interdisciplinary research team led by Tibbitt has now turned this vision into reality: it has stably incorporated photosynthetic bacteria—known as cyanobacteria—into a printable gel and developed a material that is alive, grows and actively removes carbon from the air. The researchers recently presented their "photosynthetic living material" in a study in the journal Nature Communications.
Taking carbon out of the atmosphere is essential for slowing global warming—and a team of Cornell University researchers has estimated "huge" potential for carbon capture using a method that is low-tech, sustainable and relatively simple: burying wood, especially the debris from managed forests.
In the study, published in Nature Geoscience, researchers found that burying wood debris from managed forests over the next 76 years could remove between 770 and 937 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, resulting in a reduction of global temperatures by up to 0.42 degrees Celsius (0.76 degrees Fahrenheit).
If the U.S. buried 66% of the wood debris from its managed forests, net zero emissions could be reached by 2050.
"Based on my knowledge, this is the most effective and the least expensive, and possibly the most sustainable way to capture carbon," said first author professor Yiqi Luo. "There's huge potential."
This work sheds light on a new strategy to design semiconductor-based catalysts for challenging reactions, including carbon capture via carbon dioxide conversion to methanol. Credit: Institute of Science Tokyo
A new palladium-loaded amorphous InGaZnOx (a-IGZO) catalyst achieved over 91% selectivity when converting carbon dioxide to methanol, report researchers from Japan.
Unlike traditional catalysts, this system leverages the electronic properties of semiconductors to generate all the species necessary for the conversion reaction. This study demonstrates novel design principles for sustainable catalysis based on electronic structure engineering.
The global push for carbon neutrality hinges on our ability to not just capture carbon dioxide (CO2), but also transform it into valuable resources.
Researchers have demonstrated a new and sustainable way to make the chemicals that are the basis of thousands of products—from plastics to cosmetics—we use every day.
Hundreds of thousands of chemicals are manufactured by the chemical industry, which transforms raw materials—usually fossil fuels—into useful end products. Due to its size and its use of fossil fuel feedstocks, the chemical industry is responsible for roughly 6% of global carbon emissions.
