Technology Breakthrough Can Cut Greenhouse Gases
Scientists at Newcastle University, UK have pioneered breakthrough technology in the fight to cut greenhouse gases.
The Newcastle University team, led by Professor Michael North, has developed a highly energy-efficient method of converting waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemical compounds known as cyclic carbonates. Cyclic carbonates are widely used in the manufacture of products including solvents, paint-strippers, biodegradable packaging, and in the manufacture of a new class of efficient petrol anti-knocking agents that increase fuel efficiency while reducing further CO2 emissions!
The Newcastle University team estimates that the technology has the potential to use up to 48 million tonnes of waste CO2 per year, reducing the UK's emissions by about four per cent.
The conversion technique relies upon the use of a catalyst to force a chemical reaction between CO2 and an epoxide, converting waste CO2 into this cyclic carbonate. While the reaction between CO2 and epoxides is not exactly new. But this reaction until now required a lot of energy. The process used until now also requires the use of ultra-pure CO2, a costly substance.
The Newcastle team has succeeded in developing an exceptionally active catalyst, derived from aluminium, which can drive the reaction necessary to turn waste carbon dioxide into cyclic carbonates at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, vastly reducing the energy input required.
To date, alternative solutions for converting CO2 emissions into a useful product has required a process so energy intensive that they generate more CO2 than they consume.
If the catayst developed by the Newcastle team is used at the source of high-concentration CO2 production (in the exhaust stream of a fossil-fuel power station or the exhaust of a car), it could take out the carbon dioxide, turn it into a commercially-valuable product and at the same time eliminate the need to store waste CO2!
If applied optimally, this technology could be able to cut down CO2 emissions significantly while satisfy the demand of about 50 million tonnes for cyclic carbonates and its derivatives. This will amount to about 4% of the total CO2 emissions in the UK.
Not a bad result at all for an invention that cuts down a pollutant while producing a useful product (anti-knocking agent) that conserves more energy while decreasing pollution even further.
Sources:
Wikipedia
The Newcastle University team, led by Professor Michael North, has developed a highly energy-efficient method of converting waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemical compounds known as cyclic carbonates. Cyclic carbonates are widely used in the manufacture of products including solvents, paint-strippers, biodegradable packaging, and in the manufacture of a new class of efficient petrol anti-knocking agents that increase fuel efficiency while reducing further CO2 emissions!
The Newcastle University team estimates that the technology has the potential to use up to 48 million tonnes of waste CO2 per year, reducing the UK's emissions by about four per cent.
The conversion technique relies upon the use of a catalyst to force a chemical reaction between CO2 and an epoxide, converting waste CO2 into this cyclic carbonate. While the reaction between CO2 and epoxides is not exactly new. But this reaction until now required a lot of energy. The process used until now also requires the use of ultra-pure CO2, a costly substance.
The Newcastle team has succeeded in developing an exceptionally active catalyst, derived from aluminium, which can drive the reaction necessary to turn waste carbon dioxide into cyclic carbonates at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, vastly reducing the energy input required.
To date, alternative solutions for converting CO2 emissions into a useful product has required a process so energy intensive that they generate more CO2 than they consume.
If the catayst developed by the Newcastle team is used at the source of high-concentration CO2 production (in the exhaust stream of a fossil-fuel power station or the exhaust of a car), it could take out the carbon dioxide, turn it into a commercially-valuable product and at the same time eliminate the need to store waste CO2!
If applied optimally, this technology could be able to cut down CO2 emissions significantly while satisfy the demand of about 50 million tonnes for cyclic carbonates and its derivatives. This will amount to about 4% of the total CO2 emissions in the UK.
Not a bad result at all for an invention that cuts down a pollutant while producing a useful product (anti-knocking agent) that conserves more energy while decreasing pollution even further.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Labels: efficiency, environment
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