The battery-like device that captures carbon dioxide

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Last Updated24/05/2022

Researchers have developed a low-cost device that can selectively capture carbon dioxide gas while it charges.
Then, when it discharges, CO2 can be released in a controlled way and collected to be reused or disposed of responsibly.

Like a rechargeable battery, the supercapacitor device is the size of a coin and is made in part from sustainable materials including coconut shells and seawater.
It could help power carbon capture and storage technologies at a much lower cost.
The most advanced carbon capture technologies currently require large amounts of energy and are expensive.
It consists of two electrodes of positive and negative charge.
The team tried alternating from a negative to a positive voltage to extend the charging time from previous experiments.
This improved the supercapacitor’s ability to capture carbon.

By slowly alternating current between the plates, double amount of carbon dioxide can be captured than before.
The charging-discharging process of supercapacitor potentially uses less energy than the amine heating process used in industry now.

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CCUS technology is designed to capture CO2 emissions from combustion of fossil fuels.
It can absorb 85-95% of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.

Technology-based solutions
- It requires putting up machinery to capture fumes (such as from factories, large engines, etc) and removing carbon dioxide from them.
- Then a way of disposing of CO2 is seen.
- Most basic way: bury the gas underground — in pores of sedimentary rock formations, or in dead oilfields, that is, in sands that once held oil or gas, or in underground coal seams.
- This works if you don’t have to transport carbon dioxide over large distances to the burial ground.
- The captured carbon dioxide could be injected into living oil and gas wells so as to push out the hydrocarbons. Scientists have also suggested that CO2 could also be injected into gas hydrates (frozen gas-water mixture), whereupon the carbon dioxide will push out the gas in the hydrate and take its place
Nature-based solutions
- They do not ‘capture’ carbon dioxide but offset the emissions by sucking up the gas from the atmosphere - essentially involving growing trees.
- Wetland and Mangroves are said to have enormous potential to suck up carbon dioxide.

It starts with the capture of generated CO2 which undergoes a compression process to form a dense fluid.
This eases the transport and storage of the captured CO2.
Dense fluid is transported via pipelines and then injected into an underground storage facility.
Captured CO2 can also be used as a raw material in other industrial processes such as bicarbonates.

IPCC Report: IPCC Special Report on Global Warming presents four scenarios for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius: All require CO2 removal and three involve major use of CCS.
Transition to Net-Zero Emissions: The cement, iron and steel and chemical sectors emit carbon due to the nature of their industrial processes and high-temperature requirements.
- They are among the hardest to decarbonise.
- CCS can facilitate a just transition by allowing industries to make sustained contributions to local economies while moving toward net-zero.
Production of Low Carbon Hydrogen: Enabling production of low-carbon hydrogen at scale coal or natural gas with CCS is the cheapest way to produce low-carbon hydrogen.

Absent from INDCs: It is absent from intended nationally determined contributions(INDCs) of most countries.
- Thus, it is clear that national policies have not accepted CCS as a promising technology.
Less CCUS Facilities: As of 2020, there were only 26 operational CCS facilities capturing around 36-40 million tonnes of carbon per year as the cost of storage and transportation is one of the major bottlenecks for the implementation of CCS.

National Programme on CO2 Research: India’s Department of Science and Technology has established a national programme on CO2 storage research.
ACT Initiative: In August 2020, India made a call for proposals to support CCS research, development, pilot and demonstration projects.
- This is part of the accelerating CCS technologies(ACT) initiative.
- ACT is an international initiative of 16 countries to facilitate the emergence of CCUS via transnational funding of projects aimed at accelerating and maturing CCUS technology through targeted innovation and research activities.
Industry Charter: In September 2020, an ‘Industry Charter’ for near-zero emissions by 2050 was agreed to by six Indian companies that will explore different decarbonisation measures including carbon sequestration.

Carbon Capture is a viable option for global leaders to achieve Net zero emission by 2050 as asserted in IPCC report, to protect the planet from rising temperature greater than 2°C.
The need is a serious global co-operation and co-ordination for feasible technology development and affordable access to all, based on principles of Equity and Climate Justice.

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