UIC engineers say a new machine is the first of its kind to turn carbon emissions into a valuable product while remaining “net negative”; removing more carbon from the air than it generates by running on electricity.
By Andy Szal
For Thomas Insights
Image Credit: TIU
The world faces a number of complications in its battle to curb greenhouse gas emissions. There’s the carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels in the first place, of course, but there are also the industries that require large amounts of energy and, therefore, large amounts of carbon emissions.
A new system developed at the University of Illinois-Chicago could help address both fronts.
UIC engineers say a new machine is the first of its kind to turn carbon emissions into a valuable product while remaining “net negative”; removing more carbon from the air than it generates by running on electricity.
Researchers from a UIC lab modified a standard artificial leaf system with inexpensive materials to create a water gradient across an electrically charged membrane, which allowed them to harness CO2 from flue gas and send it into a second system.
The latter mechanism combined hydrogen atoms from water with carbon atoms from CO2 to form ethylene — a vital chemical needed to manufacture a wide range of products, from plastics and vinyl siding to medical sterilizers and antifreeze.
Not only does the UIC machine remove CO2 from flue gas — a major source of emissions — but it could also alleviate the energy that would ordinarily be needed to produce ethylene, the third-largest driver of emissions in chemical production behind ammonia and cement.
Researchers next hope to build up the system to produce ethylene at higher and higher rates. They say its modular and stackable design allows it to be easily scaled up and down.
