Using a specially devised air-capture system, researchers at the University of Calgary have successfully scrubbed carbon dioxide from the air.

Climate scientist David Keith and the team of researchers have filed two provisional patents for their reliable, scalable technology.

Their air-capture system has significant environmental implications, since it is currently the only way to capture carbon emissions from transportation sources such as vehicles and airplanes, and emerging threats such as tar sands mining.

The U of C team has devised an adaptation of a chemical process used by the pulp-and-paper industry, using near-commercial technology, that cut the energy cost of air capture in half.

"At first thought," says Keith, "capturing CO₂ from the air where it's at a concentration of 0.04 per cent seems absurd, when we are just starting to do cost-effective capture at power plants where CO₂ produced is at a concentration of more than 10 per cent.

"But the thermodynamics suggests that air capture might only be a bit harder than capturing CO₂ from power plants. We are trying to turn that theory into engineering reality."

Keith and his team showed they could capture CO₂ directly from the air with less than 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity per ton of carbon dioxide. They were able to capture the equivalent of 20 tons a year of CO₂ from a single square meter, or the average carbon emissions that one person produces each year in America.

Via sciencedaily.com