Scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed a reactor that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air and converts it into syngas using sunlight as the power source.
A form of direct air capture (DAC), the scientists say that the process could be used to make fuel to power cars and planes, or chemicals and pharmaceutical products, without relying on fossil fuels.
The reactor offers an alternative approach to CO2 management, as carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains energy-intensive and faces long-term storage challenges. While CCS is getting lots of funding from governments around the world, its viability and safety remain topics of debate.
Professor Erwin Reisner, who led the research, argued in releasing the findings that CCS alone is not a long-term solution, as it is in the fossil fuel value chain – “which is what caused the climate crisis in the first place.”
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