New technology Removes Carbon Dioxide From The Air

Researchers have developed a new technology to capture carbon dioxide from a stream of air — virtually at any concentration level — an advance that may pave the way for new strategies to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  said that while most methods of removing carbon dioxide from a stream of gas required higher concentrations — such as those found in the flue emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants — the new method could suck out the gas even when it was present in very low concentrations.

Furthermore, the method required significantly energy, and could even suck out the greenhouse gas at the roughly 400 parts per million currently found in the atmosphere.

In a study, published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, the researchers described the device as a large, specialized battery with a stack of electrodes that absorbs carbon dioxide from the air passing over its surface as it was being charged up, and then released the gas as it was being discharged.