Oregon State University reports that the current rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is ‘unprecedented’. We are adding the gas ten-times faster than any period during the past 50,000 years, according to what we see in the Antarctic ice cap. Curtailing the rate by using renewable energy, while harvesting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have become a global priority.
A Novel Battery For Harvesting Carbon Dioxide
Researchers at U.S. Oak Ridge Laboratory have a project in hand, to capture airborne carbon dioxide using renewable energy. They developed a special battery that stores energy from solar panels and wind turbines. But this battery has an added tweak that we found quite intriguing.
This tweak is a novel electro-chemical reaction that captures carbon dioxide from industrial emissions when sunlight and wind are not available. And then converts this greenhouse gas to value-added products in solid form. There were two different battery types involved in this work.
The first battery prototype failed after a chemical build-up deactivated it. The team overcame this challenge with the second battery, which retained its 10-hour capacity for 600 hours. it used free electrons for harvesting carbon dioxide, and converting it to revenue generating products.
How This Carbon-Capture Battery Worked
First, the broader battery system captured carbon dioxide from a power plant. Then it pumped this gas through tubes into the liquid battery electrolyte, creating bubbles akin to a soft drink. But these bubbles were different, because they became a solid powder for onward processing.
The Oak Ridge report explains that both batteries used a saltwater electrolyte ‘sometimes mixed with other chemicals’. One of the two batteries used ‘an inexpensive iron-nickel catalyst’, while the other ‘combined the gas with aluminum’. This work is continuing at Oak Ridge laboratory.
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Preview Image: Harvesting Carbon Dioxide
