Carbon sponge could soak up coal emissions

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.monash.edu.au/news/show/carbon-sponge-could-soak-up-coal-emissions

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Carbon sponge could soak up coal emissions[/font]

12 February 2013

[font size=3]Emissions from coal power stations could be drastically reduced by a new, energy-efficient material that adsorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, then releases it when exposed to sunlight.

In a study published today in Angewandte Chemie, Monash University and CSIRO scientists for the first time discovered a photosensitive metal organic framework (MOF) – a class of materials known for their exceptional capacity to store gases. This has created a powerful and cost-effective new tool to capture and store, or potentially recycle, carbon dioxide.

By utilising sunlight to release the stored carbon, the new material overcomes the problems of expense and inefficiency associated with current, energy-intensive methods of carbon capture. Current technologies use liquid capture materials that are then heated in a prolonged process to release the carbon dioxide for storage.

Associate Professor Bradley Ladewig of the Monash Department of Chemical Engineering said the MOF was an exciting development in emissions reduction technology.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201206359

[dlwickham]

1. what happens to the CO2 when it's released

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. There are numerous things that can be done with the CO2

One thing you can do is make plastic.

http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2012/1996.html

[font face=Serif]News Release NR-3512

[font size=5]NREL Produces Ethylene via Photosynthesis[/font]
[font size=4]Environmentally-friendly process offers intriguing alternative to fossil-fuel based ethylene for chemicals and transportation fuels[/font]
September 25, 2012
[font size=3]Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have demonstrated a better way to use photosynthesis to produce ethylene, a breakthrough that could change the way materials, chemicals, and transportation fuels are made, and help clean the air.

NREL scientists introduced a gene into a cyanobacterium and demonstrated that the organism remained stable through at least four generations, producing ethylene gas that could be easily captured. Research results were published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

…

Ethylene is the most widely produced petrochemical feedstock in the world. But currently it is produced only from fossil fuels, and its production is the industry’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Steam cracking of long-chain hydrocarbons from petroleum produces 1.5 to 3 tons of carbon dioxide for every ton of ethylene produced.

…

The ethylene would be produced in an enclosed photobioreactor containing seawater enriched with nitrogen and phosphorous. The ethylene gas would rise and be captured from the reactor’s head space. It could then undergo further processing, including a catalytic polymer process to produce fuels and chemicals. The continuous production system improves the energy conversion efficiency and reduces the operational cost.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene

[font face=Serif][font size=3]…

Polyethylenes of various types consume more than half of world ethylene supply. Polyethylene, also called polythene, is the world's most widely-used plastic, …[/font][/font]

[pscot]

3. Coulda, woulda, shoulda

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts
Oh what a christmas we'd have