Capturing CO2 Directly from the Air

FROM BLOG: AccuWeather.com Global Warming Center - AccuWeather.com's Global Warming Center is an open forum that looks at every side of the issues of global warming and climate change with scientific clarity.

Researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada have developed a simple machine that directly pulls carbon dioxide from the air. Professor David Keith. The project is led by climate change scientist David Keith, who is also the director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy’s (ISEEE) Energy and Environmental Systems Group and a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering. Keith is also Canada's Research Chair in Energy and Environment. Air capture is different than the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology which is a key part of the Alberta and federal governments’ strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CCS involves installing equipment at, for example, a coal-fired power plant to capture carbon dioxide produced during burning of the coal, and then pipelining this CO2 for permanent storage underground in a geological reservoir. Air capture, on the other hand, uses technology that can capture – no matter where the capture system is located – the CO2 that is present in ambient air everywhere, according to the University of Calgary press release. Keith and his team have shown that they can capture more CO2 than the energy needed to run the machine, which is very important. There are still some major issues with this project......... --Where would the captured CO2 be stored? One possibility would be Alberta's oil sands tar fields. --Potential high costs for the commercialization of this project. Nevertheless, the relatively simple, reliable and scalable technology that Keith and his team developed opens the door to building a commercial-scale plant. By the way, there is a link to the technical details of the project at the bottom of the press release.