Recently, a professor at Harvard University said that a company he founded is expected to achieve industrial-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide recovery in 2021, which can convert carbon dioxide into gasoline! June 7, Harvard University and Carbon Engineering (Carbon Engineering) The scientists' research team claimed that they found an inexpensive and effective way to extract carbon dioxide pollutants directly from the atmosphere.
If their technology can achieve industrial scale, it will change human's perspective on climate change. It will become a decisive new tool for human beings to effectively resist global warming. But it is also possible that this strategy will affect subtle political issues and make society very Hard to adapt to change.
The study suggests that the future seems to transform the mysterious technology in science fiction into real life, and people may soon be able to make gasoline and aviation fuel from limestone, hydrogen and air. It implies that a huge industrial-scale carbon wash will eventually be built. The network is capable of removing greenhouse gases directly from the atmosphere.
Most importantly, this latest technology deserves high attention because it is expected to take a cost-effective way to remove carbon dioxide. In 2011, a team of experts assessed that the cost of removing one ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere must be at least 600 dollars.
The latest study points out that the lowest cost for carbon engineering companies to remove 1 ton of carbon from the atmosphere is $94, up to $232. As a result, the average carbon dioxide emitted by a car burning a gallon of gasoline will cost. Cleared by $1.2.5.
Ken Caldeira, senior scientist at the Carnegie Institution, said: 'If these costs are real, then this will be a very important result. This will open up our use of affordable funds, no need The climate can be stabilized by changing the entire energy system or changing the behavior of everyone. ' Currently, the research team published the research report in the June 8 issue of Joule.
The main author of the study, David Keith, a professor of applied physics at Harvard University, said: 'What we're doing is building a 'direct air capture' process that builds as much as possible existing processes that are ubiquitous in the world. On the basis of technology, this is why we believe there is a reasonable possibility of scaling up. ' It is reported that Keith is the founder and CEO of Carbon Engineering, and carbon engineering is working on how to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
Carbon Engineering said the latest technology has been tested at a small pilot plant in the Squamish region of British Columbia, Canada. The company is actively seeking funding to build a large industrial-scale plant. Keith Said that the plant is expected to be completed in 2021.
Although the chemical process of this technology is more complicated, it does not depend on the future 'Utility Technology'. In fact, Keith and colleagues have used a cooling tower for air purification in a paper mill. It is divided into three main steps:
In the first step, outdoor air is drawn into the factory's 'contactors' and exposed to alkaline liquids. These contactors are similar to industrial cooling towers - they have larger fans that draw in air from the outside, and Its lining is a corrugated plastic structure that allows as much air as possible to come into contact with the liquid. In the cooling tower, air is used to cool the alkaline liquid; but in this cooling tower design, the air is exposed to strong alkali, carbon dioxide. They are weakly acidic substances, so they tend to neutralize with strong alkali substances.
In the second step, the liquid containing carbon dioxide is brought into the factory where they undergo a series of chemical reactions to separate the acidic material from the strong alkali liquid. The alkaline liquid is cooled to solid particles and then slowly heated to convert them into pulp. Similarly, these technologies are also used by other chemical industries. Keith said that extracting carbon dioxide from carbonate solutions is the method used by almost all paper mills in the world.
In the third step, carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen and converted into liquid fuels, such as: gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. To some extent, this is the most traditional process of operation – oil companies use a type of 'fescher' every day. The chemical reaction process of the - Tropsch synthesis method converts hydrocarbon gas into a liquid fuel. But this is a key part of the operation of carbon engineering companies, which can produce carbon-neutral hydrocarbons.
What does this mean? For example: If you burn carbon engineering company gas in your car, the car exhaust pipe will release carbon dioxide pollutants and release it into the Earth's atmosphere. But since these carbon dioxide gases are originally from the air, this The way of discharging does not introduce any new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, nor does it need to mine new oil to drive your car.
In the end, a similar process can be used to isolate greenhouse gases. Carbon engineering companies convert carbon dioxide gas into liquid fuels and bury them deep underground, thus reducing the amount of endothermic gas in the atmosphere. But such technologies do not The engineering company brought any products for sale, and now no buyers are interested in buying them.
Keith said: 'The main market in the near future is to manufacture carbon-neutral hydrocarbon fuels. We believe that this method is currently a decarburization transfer technology.' On June 6, Keith said in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I am 'very optimistic about climate change' because these low-carbon fuel markets are more prosperous than in previous years, while low-carbon power equipment such as solar and wind power is cheaper to build.
Other experts said they were inspired and encouraged by the latest research by Keith and his colleagues. But they warned that the research report took time to review the cost budget and engineering progress, but everyone's enthusiasm is very high, everyone's consistent response is : Ah! I hope to do this job!
Jennifer Wilcox, an associate professor at the University of the Colorado School of Mines, said: 'I don't doubt whether the cost range in the study is acceptable. I think the cost per ton of carbon treated by their technical approach can be reduced. $250, and will be completed in the next 5 years. '
Roger Aines, senior scientist at the Energy Project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said: 'The improvement of carbon engineering companies seems to be correct. For the cost of evaluation, within the acceptable range I expected, I I am very pleased. '
Scott Hersey, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Franklin Olin College, said that in my opinion, the most important part of this research report is that they have been testing the technology in a prototype factory for several years. Very important, it provides a factual evidence that is more convincing than a simple calculation or computational model.
Caldera said that this research report has brought hope to adapt to climate change in the most complex economic fields. In the process of human economic and social development, the most difficult areas for decarbonization (such as: steel manufacturing, cement manufacturing and Long-haul aviation, etc.) may still exist, we only need to pay to remove carbon dioxide treatment costs.
He continues to point out that global GDP is between $75 trillion and $110 trillion, and removing all carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would cost 3-5% of global GDP (if the cost per ton of carbon is $100). The upper cost limit for global climate issues, because there are many ways to reduce carbon emissions, which is less than the cost of processing $100 per ton of carbon.
Keith said: 'If it is possible, the most important thing is to stop emitting carbon dioxide pollutants. My point is that we should insist on reducing emissions first. If voting, my point is to reduce 1 ton of carbon dioxide, than to recycle 1 ton of carbon dioxide. The cost is lower. However, once we have significantly reduced CO2 emissions, we are very happy to see emissions down to zero. Maybe after 10-15 years, we will be very happy to see more large-scale CO2 reduction measures. '
