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 CO2Â 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
- Sweden’s first biogas carbon capture plant to produce food-grade CO2on May 7, 2024 at 4:27 am
A new partnership between two European energy companies to install Sweden’s first carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) facility using biogas will produce 20,000 tonnes of food-grade carbon dioxide ...
- Growing Mushrooms From Food Wasteon May 7, 2024 at 2:01 am
In Queens, an indoor farm develops high-quality mushrooms for restaurants in scraps discarded by the restaurants’ chefs.
- A leap toward carbon neutrality: New catalyst converts carbon dioxide to methanolon May 6, 2024 at 8:59 am
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a catalyst material known as cobalt phthalocyanine that converts carbon dioxide—a significant driver of climate change—into renewable fuels ...
- Microsoft signs deal with Swedish partner to remove 3.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxideon May 5, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The plant burns waste from the forestry industry and paper mills to produce heat and electricity. Carbon dioxide released from those materials during incineration will be removed from the gas emitted ...
- Aspen’s annual e-waste collection event returns this Saturdayon May 4, 2024 at 5:00 pm
waste diversion and recycling specialist with the city. “It can also be just cables like USB cables.” Not accepted: Air conditioners, refrigerators, mercury bulbs, lightbulbs, large appliances, ...
- Eco-Friendly Concrete: Turning Waste into Building Blockson May 3, 2024 at 10:27 am
In an era where sustainability is paramount, a groundbreaking innovation in the construction industry stands out by turning big industry waste into eco-friendly concrete. This novel approach uses a sp ...
- 'Gap' in carbon removal: Countries' plans to remove CO2 not enoughon May 3, 2024 at 9:35 am
New research suggests that countries' current plans to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will not be enough to comply with the 1.5 C warming limit set out under the Paris Agreement.
- Engineers create energy-smart, sustainable bricks from wasteon May 1, 2024 at 6:51 am
For manufacturers, that means saving up to 20 percent on firing temperatures by replacing clay with waste materials in brick production.
- Silicon Valley is enamored with a company that pumps poop undergroundon May 1, 2024 at 4:59 am
The company operating the largest facility filtering CO2 out of the air today charges ... its wells closer to where it’s getting the waste it pumps underground. The deal with Frontier is ...
- Waste not, want not: How methane biogases can help us reach our climate goalson April 28, 2024 at 5:00 am
How can the U.S. meet its 30×30 methane goal? Tapping America’s massive organic waste streams as a renewable energy resource.
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
- Tata Power unit and SJVN ink PPA for 460 MW renewable projecton May 7, 2024 at 9:19 pm
The agreement involves a firm and dispatchable renewable energy project. Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) signed a power purchase agreement with SJVN Limited for a 460-megawatt firm and ...
- Webinar: New Power Plant Carbon Rules & The Southeaston May 7, 2024 at 1:01 pm
On SACE’s webinar on May 7, we explored the details of the EPA’s newly announced national limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. Until now, carbon pollution from power plants ...
- To Stop Climate Change, Use the Power of Priceon May 6, 2024 at 10:00 pm
A barrel of oil fetches about $80 on the global market. Consider the power of that price: It has driven extensive human endeavor, trillions of dollars in investment, technological breakthroughs, the ...
- The science of capturing carbon dioxideon May 6, 2024 at 5:30 am
Carbon dioxide can be converted into useful elements, which could help fight the threat of a greenhouse effect.
- Microsoft signs deal with Swedish partner to remove 3.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxideon May 5, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The Swedish partner will build the carbon capture and storage project at its biomass power plant. Microsoft signed a deal to remove to permanently remove 3.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide with ...
- Hydrogen-Powered Airplanes Face 5 Big Challengeson May 4, 2024 at 6:01 am
It can be burned with oxygen to create water, powering a jet, but it has to be stored in liquid form, which means installing high-pressure tanks that keep the highly flammable substance at ...
- Utah’s 4th largest coal power plant asks to keep burning into the 2040son May 4, 2024 at 5:03 am
The owners of the Bonanza Power Plant near Vernal, which provides electricity to rural Utah, want to upgrade the plant with new pollution controls to keep burning coal into the 2040s.
- Sugar-based catalyst upcycles carbon dioxideon May 2, 2024 at 3:21 pm
New catalyst is made from an inexpensive, abundant metal and table sugar. Catalyst converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide, a building block for producing a variety of useful chemicals ...
- Progress! U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions dropped 3% in 2023on April 29, 2024 at 8:41 am
According to the EIA, more than 80% of the emissions reductions occured in the electric power sector due to decreased coal-fired generation.
- The Power of Us: As EV demand slows, a new alternative fuel garners attentionon April 29, 2024 at 6:37 am
Golub considers himself an early EV adopter, someone who's willing to deal with some of the frustrations that come with new technology. But more mainstream consumers generally have a lower tolerance ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
CO2 power
[google_news title=”” keyword=”CO2 power” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]