A reactor has been developed that pulls carbon dioxide from the air and converts it into fuel, using sunlight.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge believe their solar-powered reactor could be used to make fuel to power cars and planes and also be used to generate fuel in remote or off-grid locations.
Professor Erwin Reisner said unlike most carbon capture technologies, the reactor did not require fossil-fuel-based power, or the transport and storage of carbon dioxide, but instead converted atmospheric CO2 into something useful using the sun’s rays.
Professor Reisner said Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) had been touted as a possible solution to the climate crisis, however, it was energy-intensive and there were concerns about the long-term safety of storing pressurised CO2 deep underground.
“Aside from the expense and the energy intensity, CCS provides an excuse to carry on burning fossil fuels, which is what caused the climate crisis in the first place,” he said.
“CCS is also a non-circular process, since the pressurised CO2 is, at best, stored underground indefinitely, where it’s of no use to anyone.”
He said if scaled up, the reactor could be used in a decentralised way, so individuals could theoretically generate their own fuel.
“Instead of continuing to dig up and burn fossil fuels to produce the products we have come to rely on, we can get all the CO2 we need directly from the air and reuse it.”
Study co-author Sayan Kar said CO2 was a harmful greenhouse gas, but it could also be turned into useful chemicals without contributing to global warming.
Dr Kar said their device took CO2 directly from the air and converted it into syngas, a key intermediate in the production of many chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
He said their approach, which did not require any transportation or storage, was much easier to scale up than earlier solar-powered devices.
“If we made these devices at scale, they could solve two problems at once – removing CO2 from the atmosphere and creating a clean alternative to fossil fuels.”
Read the full study: Direct air capture of CO2 for solar fuel production in flow.
