New research provides a framework for carbon capture driven by photochemistry, a potentially cheaper and less energy-intensive alternative to leading technologies.
Year after year, humans pump more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere than nature can remove, fueling global warming. As the need to mitigate climate change becomes increasingly urgent, scientists are developing ways to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere in addition to cutting emissions.
One of the biggest hurdles to scaling current carbon capture technologies is the vast amount of energy they consume, but what if there was an alternative that uses an abundant, cheap power source? A team of researchers at Harvard University recently took a major step toward that goal. Their technique, outlined in a Nature Chemistry study published August 13, harnesses sunlight to efficiently trap CO2.
They’re not talking about slapping solar panels on direct air capture systems that run on heat and electricity. This approach is based on specially designed molecules that use light to change their chemical state and reversibly trap CO2.Harnessing the power of photochemistry
The methodology the researchers developed is a significant departure from leading direct air capture technologies.
