
via Climate News Network
Dutch scientists have a use for all the carbon dioxide that pours from the chimneys of fossil fuel-burning power stations: Harvest it for even more electricity
Power-generating stations worldwide release 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year as they burn coal, oil or natural gas; home and commercial heating plants release another 11 billion tons. A team of Dutch scientists has a use for it.
Power plants could, they argue, pump the carbon dioxide through water or other liquids and produce a flow of electrons – and therefore more electricity.
This would be enough, they argue, to create 1,750 terawatt hours of extra electricity annually – about 400 times the output of the Hoover Dam in the Nevada – and all without adding an extra gasp of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The exhaust from one cycle of electricity production could be used immediately to deliver another flow of power to the grid.
They make the claim in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, published by the American Chemical Society. The claim rests on a 200-year-old technique pioneered by Sir Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday: electrolysis.
Behind the reasoning is a simple proposition, namely that every chemical event involves some exchange of energy. In a solution, this movement of energy involves electrons, and ions that migrate to cation or anion electrodes. In a mix of two different solutions, the final mixture has an energy content lower than the sum of the two original solutions. But since energy cannot be created or destroyed, therefore there must be some energy available for exploitation.
Bert Hamelers of Wetsus, a Netherlands-based collaboration between companies and research institutes exploring water technology, and colleagues from Wageningen University report that they used porous electrodes and flushed carbon dioxide into water. They got a flow of current as the gas reacted with water to make carbonic acid, which in the electrolyte became positive hydrogen ions and negative ions of the bicarbonate HCO3. As the pH of the solution rose, the bicarbonate became a simple carbonate; the higher the CO2 pressure, the greater the increase of ions in the solution.
In their experiment, they found that as they flushed their aqueous electrolyte with air, and alternately with CO2, between their porous electrodes, a supply of electricity began to build up. Since the air that comes from the chimneys of fossil fuel-burning power stations contains up to 20 percent of CO2, even the emissions represent a potential for more power.
The Latest Bing News on:
Waste CO2
- What they’re thinking: Smart Carbon Network says it wants to cut through emotion of CO2 pipelineson May 26, 2023 at 4:00 am
Iowa could benefit financially from projects that would capture CO2 from ethanol plants and use it for industrial purposes or ...
- From Agro-Waste to Sustainable Structures: Concrete Alternatives Made from Sugarcaneon May 25, 2023 at 7:16 am
Finding effective and valuable solutions for agricultural waste management has been an inspiring challenge ... resulting in savings of 1.08 billion tons of CO2 (equivalent to 3% of global carbon ...
- Viewpoint: Why waste time, money on bogus carbon-capture technology?on May 24, 2023 at 3:04 am
Beginning in the 1970s, CO2 was pumped underground to increase ... So, why are we wasting money, time and energy on a bogus technology? Why waste billions of dollars on something that, at best ...
- Net Zero Plastic Applies Carbon-Offset Model to Plastic Waste Reductionon May 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Yankee Scientific Inc. and CO2 Global claim to have developed a comprehensive market-based business platform for the environmentally responsible management of plastic waste. According to Eric Guyer, ...
- Charm Industrial is getting $53 million to turn agricultural waste into oil that can lock away carbon dioxide for 1 million yearson May 19, 2023 at 8:45 am
Two dozen companies plans to buy $53 million worth of carbon-removal credits from Charm Industrial. The startup converts corn stalks and other plant waste into bio-oil, then pumps it underground.
- Charm Industrial is getting $53 million to turn agricultural waste into oil that can lock away carbon dioxide for 1 million yearson May 18, 2023 at 3:44 pm
The startup converts corn stalks and other plant waste into bio-oil ... says the oil hardens within days and it estimates the carbon dioxide is locked away for 1 million years.
- Infinium and Navigator CO2 Collaborate on eFuels Project in US Midweston May 18, 2023 at 8:06 am
Electrofuels are a new class of synthetic fuels made using renewable power and waste carbon dioxide, not petroleum or resources needed to produce food. Infinium electrofuels can be dropped into ...
- Innovative Solutions For Food Waste Handling At The Food Service Levelon May 18, 2023 at 7:01 am
A substantial amount of organic waste is generated at the food service level and the worst case scenario is that it ends up generating methane in a landfill. There are several innovative solutions to ...
- Sharjah Waste to Energy plant offsets 150,000 t of CO2on May 14, 2023 at 3:37 am
The Sharjah Waste to Energy plant, a first of its kind project in the Middle East, has generated enough energy to power over 2,000 homes per year while offsetting 150,000 tonnes (t) of CO2 emissions.
- Sharjah Waste to Energy plant offsets 150,000 t of CO2on May 14, 2023 at 3:32 am
The Sharjah Waste to Energy plant, a first of its kind project in the Middle East, has generated enough energy to power over 2,000 homes per year while offsetting 150,000 tonnes (t) of CO2 emissions.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Waste CO2
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Waste CO2″ num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
CO2 power
- Japan embracing ammonia power to achieve 2050 zero CO2 targeton May 26, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Such technology could provide a stable power source with no CO2 emissions, rivaling nuclear power or coal-fired thermal power plants as baseload power plants. It is hoped that ammonia-fired ...
- Environmental groups seek Biden moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelineson May 26, 2023 at 6:55 am
President Joe Biden should prevent the construction of new carbon dioxide pipelines until changes to federal rules are adopted to increase their safety, opponents of the projects said Thursday. The ...
- Pennsylvania's Supreme Court likely to have split decision regarding power plant owners paying for emissionson May 25, 2023 at 4:39 am
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court justices are likely to have split opinions on whether power plant owners must pay for their planet-warming emissions.
- Major polluter escapes EPA power plant ruleon May 25, 2023 at 3:16 am
The agency goes easy on gas-fired steam turbines, which generally operate only when demand is high. But the units are among the country's largest emitters ...
- CO2 cuts in doubt as China, India bend coal targetson May 25, 2023 at 2:20 am
China, the world’s largest consumer, producer and importer of coal, has announced plans to become carbon-neutral by 2060 but the heavily industrialised country continues to build new coal plants with ...
- Pa. high court appears split over plan to force power plants to pay for carbon emissionson May 24, 2023 at 2:32 pm
On Wednesday, the state’s highest court began considering whether former Gov. Tom Wolf unconstitutionally usurped the Legislature’s authority to approve any form of taxation.
- Pennsylvania high court appears split over plan to force power plants to pay for carbon emissionson May 24, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Justices on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court are indicating that they're likely to have split opinions on whether a governor can force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emi ...
- San Antonio company captures CO2, but one expert says it does more harm than goodon May 24, 2023 at 7:30 am
CarbonFree has a goal to capture 10% of the world’s industrial emissions to slow climate change — but a Stanford professor says it’s all 'a scheme of the fossil fuel industry.' ...
- Denso developing tech to use CO2 from production to produce poweron May 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The company is making efforts to render the power reuse cycle far more efficient. One problem is how to minimize the energy used for CO2 collection and methane synthesis. Given that the recently ...
- Your next car could be powered on SUNSHINE! Scientists develop solar-powered technology that can convert CO2 and water into liquid fuelson May 18, 2023 at 9:12 am
Normally, when you try to convert CO2 into another chemical product using ... we've been able to produce a practical liquid fuel just using the power of the sun. 'It's an exciting advance ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
CO2 power
[google_news title=”” keyword=”CO2 power” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]