Battery capable of recovering even low concentration of CO2?

According to the 1.5℃ special report released by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in order to suppress the temperature rise before the industrial revolution at the end of this century to less than 1.5℃, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to almost zero, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere must be recovered and reused. However, even if all countries achieve the Paris Agreement goal, the world average temperature is known to rise to 3.7℃ by the end of the 21st century.

However, it is said that MIT has developed a new technology that can serve as a light for solving such warming. According to a paper published by the MIT research team in the journal (Energy and Environmental Science), the new technology uses a special battery with ²⁰⁰ to 400 cm ² sheets stacked to absorb carbon dioxide in the air passing through the electrode during charging and release it when discharged.

Until now, a technology that absorbs carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere called DAC (Direct air capture) and outdoor air conditioners that trap and recover carbon dioxide have appeared, but due to various problems such as cost and scale, there is still a long way to go before reaching the level of practical use.

Until now, technologies have required high concentrations of carbon dioxide emitted from thermal power plants and factories to recover carbon dioxide from air or gas. However, the battery developed this time is said to be capable of recovering air containing only 400 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In addition, one of the features is that carbon dioxide can be recovered and released without using heat, pressure, or chemicals. As the sheet used for the electrode is developed, it is said that it can be mass-produced through a manufacturing process such as printing a newspaper, which will increase the cost reduction effect.

However, if this battery absorbs carbon dioxide at high efficiency and low cost, how do you use the carbon dioxide discharged when discharging? First, general carbon dioxide storage technology traps carbon dioxide recovered from thermal power plants and the like. With this technology, when carbonic acid is added to carbonated beverages in a soft drink factory, this battery can be introduced to supply carbon dioxide. Similarly, some farms can generate the carbon dioxide needed to grow agricultural products in greenhouses.

These facilities burn fossil fuels to create carbon dioxide, but using new technology not only supplies carbon dioxide, but also eliminates the need to use fossil fuels. No unnecessary greenhouse gases are emitted. It’s a couple of stones. It can also convert carbon dioxide released by chemical and electrochemical processes into fuel.

The research team revealed that they would like to develop a commercial scale plant within a few years after establishing a company for commercialization. Scale-up will be simple, and we are also planning to make electrodes according to the required capacity. Related information can be found here .