Half a pound of a new lab-created powder can successfully absorb as much carbon from the air as a tree.
A team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a material that could revolutionize the carbon capture industry.
The fairly unremarkable yellow powder can be used hundreds of times over to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The gas can then either be released into safe storage or used in industrial processes by simply heating the powder.
Omar Yaghi, professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, leads the team of researchers working on the powder. He says its durability puts it “a quantum leap” ahead of other compounds he has worked on over the years.
The material formulated by the researchers also only needs to be heated to 120F to release carbon which Yaghi says “addresses a major problem in the tech field.”
Many existing carbon capture methods require high temperatures and the associated energy costs are one of the main challenges inhibiting scalability.
“This is something we’ve been working on for 15 years, that basically addresses some of the lingering problems,” Yaghi added. “It gives no excuse now for us [not] to start thinking more seriously about taking carbon dioxide out of the air.”
A study detailing the team’s work and findings was recently published in the journal Nature.
