A physicist at Harvard University who co-founded direct air capture (DAC) company Carbon Engineering launched its first pilot plant for capturing CO2 in British Columbia in Canada.
After capturing the CO2 in solution, the plant transfers it into a solid, which when heated releases it in a pure gas stream. The crucial CO2-capturing chemical is recycled.
The results: Their technology can capture CO2 for between $94 and $232 per ton, they report today in Joule.
The company has also built a pilot operation to turn captured CO2 into a variety of liquid fuels, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
A renewable energy–powered electrolyzer first splits water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen. The H2 is then combined with CO2 to make liquid hydrocarbons using conventional chemical engineering technology.
If the CO2 is captured at the low end of the cost range, the company says can produce its synthetic fuels for about $1 per litre.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/cost-plunges-capturing-carbon-dioxide-air