Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a way to turn heat-trapping carbon dioxide into a salt that can be used to power a fuel cell.
The multi-stage process utilizes unique chemistry to transform air pollution into the useful product, according to a summary from Science News Explores.
It starts by collecting planet-warming air pollution from some of the biggest sources, such as cement plants. The dirty air is then exposed to lye. A chemical reaction creates harmless baking soda as part of a fascinating transformation, all per the story.
"Traditionally, it is difficult to achieve long-term, stable, continuous conversion of the feedstocks. The key to our system is to achieve a pH balance for steady-state conversion," MIT doctoral student Zhen Zhang said in a university report.
Turning air pollution into baking soda is being achieved elsewhere, as well. Nestle has a plant in South Africa that recycles production fumes into the commodity. A team from Purdue is also developing a filter to capture carbon from its troublesome sources.
The MIT breakthrough takes it a step further. The crucial second part of the process uses electricity to start another chemical reaction, which "cleaves" an atom of oxygen off the baking soda molecules. This forms sodium formate, a type of salt. About 96% of the carbon eventually turns into this substance, per Science News Explores.
Remarkably, energy from the chemical reactions can be stored in formate salts for decades. The salts can be used to power fuel cells, potentially replacing hydrogen to energize vehicles and other machines.
The experts tested the concept by mixing the formate salts with water and feeding the solution into a fuel cell. Electrons started flowing, creating a circuit that sustained 200 hours of electricity flow, per the report.
Science News Explores notes that if the juice used to make the salts comes from renewable sources, the process becomes even cleaner. Now, the experts are working to scale the concept, but a couple of hurdles remain.
"We need to find abundant geological sources of (lye)," Ju Li, the materials scientist who led the development of the system, said in the Science News Explores story. The report cites a form of basalt as a possible option because the rock turns to lye when it comes into contact with water.
The Nestle, Purdue, and MIT carbon-capture projects could provide a crucial way to prevent air pollution from contributing to overheating our planet, linked by NASA experts to extreme weather risks and high heat that can impact our food supply.
MIT's experts think we need a variety of solutions to stay ahead of the rising mercury.
"In terms of innovations, we need all of them — even those that may seem quite exotic at this point: fusion, direct air capture, and others," climate expert Sergey Paltsev said in an MIT News report.
Battery-powered yard tools and mowers are reliable technology already in the field. By switching to cleaner machines for use around your property, you can save an average of $200 a year in gas and maintenance costs while cutting the pollution spewed from your old gas-burners.
For MIT's part, the latest research could have longer-lasting potential. The energy stored in formate salts can be tapped years later, unlike hours-long battery storage.
"With formate fuel, you're not even limited to seasonal storage. It can be generational," Li said in the Science News Explores article.
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