Atmospheric Carbon Capture

Abstract

Human-generated carbon emissions are the leading cause of climate change. There is a global commitment to reduce carbon emissions, in an effort to limit climate change effects. Many climate change solutions involve the mitigation of carbon emissions, mitigation alone is not enough.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) can live in the atmosphere for over 100 years. If we were to switch to 100% renewable energies, we would still damage the planet with the stagnant CO2 from the 1920’s. To combat climate change, we need a solution that can remove this carbon. One such solution is carbon capture, one of our best weapons in tackling climate change. The replacement of fossil fuel energy will not happen in the next few years, maybe not even for decades. Therefore, carbon capture is a promising ‘bridge’ technology, while we reach a sustainable level of green energy production.

Carbon capture technology development has largely focused on singular processes (typically absorption, adsorption and membranes) capturing carbon from industrial exhaust systems. Recently, studies have delved into the idea of combining two or more of these technologies into one more efficient system and employing them in the industrial exhaust systems but also capturing carbon from the atmosphere. This project aims to develop a hybrid membrane and adsorption unit to capture carbon directly from the atmosphere. The aim is to provide the technology necessary to remove carbon from the atmosphere more effectively and cheaper than earlier technologies.