Though one priority for sustainability is to limit the amount of additional harmful pollutants human activity creates, another goal is to minimize and repurpose the pollution that is already created as a result of unsustainable practices.
Scientists around the world are coming together to find innovative ways to repurpose pollutants, both in the form of energy and physical products.
1. Fuel
With the rise in carbon pollution in the atmosphere, one of the priorities for several companies and researchers is making carbon capture techniques more efficient and turning the carbon they capture into useful materials.
One startup is looking at capturing and transforming carbon dioxide into another compound: methanol. While its primary purpose is to fuel cargo ships, methanol can also be used as an ingredient in aviation fuel and other materials.
2. Energy-storage
An energy storage facility in Wisconsin is also repurposing carbon dioxide — as a medium to store sustainable power. The gas is captured and then shifted between its gaseous and liquid forms to generate electricity.
According to energy provider Alliant Energy, the facility will boost grid stability and power around 18,000 homes on a single charge.
3. Building materials
Carbon air pollution is also being used to create building materials. By combining carbon dioxide with naturally occurring magnesium, iron, and calcium, researchers have found a way to accelerate a natural geological process and trap the harmful air pollutant in a solid state.
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The "first industrial large-scale carbon capture and utilisation (CCUS) plant in Austria" will capture and transform 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide into building materials every year.
4. Propane
Researchers from several institutions have developed an electrolyzer that converts captured carbon dioxide into propane. The new method is not only an innovative way to reuse the harmful air pollutant but is also easily expandable and relatively inexpensive.
Propane has many uses, from heating water and drying clothes to powering farm equipment and aviation. By making propane out of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, researchers hope they can find a way to effectively close the carbon cycle.
5. Everyday items
Outside of carbon dioxide, scientists are finding creative ways to repurpose other harmful pollutants. French energy company EDF has proposed a new recycling center that would repurpose low-level radioactive waste from a closed nuclear plant into everyday products like door handles, forks, and saucepans.
Though the thought of products made from radioactive materials can be scary, humans do already encounter radiation in their day-to-day activities.
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