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Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

latimes.com

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Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#3
So it acts like a reusable CO2 trap, then releases said CO2 at the cost of heating it up to 140F. Which then releases it.

It doesn't really talk about how you would sequester the gaseous CO2 other than "put it underground."... But if you put a gas underground it will eventually leak out. Even a liquid is prone to leak out eventually due to plate techtonics, but a liquid doesn't immediately turn into gaseous CO2.

So though a crucial technology, I don't see how effective it would be in a long term solution.

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#4
Might be cool to have this in an office or school classes. I realize that proper ventilation is the real fix, but it's not realistic to rebuild all buildings.

Just think about it, you have a decorative box in your office that absorbs CO2, would it slow the inevitable cognitive decline that happens when you close your door in your poorly ventilated room?

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#5

So it acts like a reusable CO2 trap, then releases said CO2 at the cost of heating it up to 140F. Which then releases it. It doesn't really talk about how you would sequester the gaseous CO2 other than "put it underground."... But if you put a gas underground it will eventually leak out. Even a liquid is prone to leak out eventually due to plate techtonics, but a liquid doesn't immediately turn into gaseous CO2. So t…

>how you would sequester the gaseous CO2 other than "put it underground."

I wonder if there is a reason you couldn't just sequester the powder. Probably too expensive? Or not volume efficient?

>to leak out eventually due to plate techtonics

This might seem shortsighted, but I'm OK pushing the problem out by 50 million years or so.

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#6
post #2

Sharing this for the community's take on whether it has potential or is just another non-viable option.

It seems like it's a MOF amine approach which does have some benefits against the MEA used in submarines, such as lower corrosive properties potentially, lower heating requirements as you don't have to heat an aqueous solution, and it can be easier to discard the remnants once its co2 absorbing properties are diminished.

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#7
> As it entered the tube, the Berkeley air contained CO2 in concentrations ranging from 410 ppm to 517 ppm. When it came out the other side, the scientists could not detect any carbon dioxide at all, Zhou said.

This sounds like it could be the basis for a respirator-like breathing apparatus, not requiring tanks, for entering and staying in enclosed spaces where the concentration of CO2 is high. (Provided there is enough oxygen.)

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#8
post #4

Might be cool to have this in an office or school classes. I realize that proper ventilation is the real fix, but it's not realistic to rebuild all buildings. Just think about it, you have a decorative box in your office that absorbs CO2, would it slow the inevitable cognitive decline that happens when you close your door in your poorly ventilated room?

I suspect that previously acceptable building designs now cause cognitive decline because of much higher outdoor CO2 levels- it’s a bigger problem than people realize. I live in a mild climate where I can just keep the windows open year round- but when the neighbors have a loud party I close them to focus or sleep and CO2 will quickly climb to over 2000ppm, well over the 1400 or so that causes measurable negative effects. I suspect most people in climates that require heating or cooling are almost permanently experiencing reduced cognition and might not know.

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#9

> As it entered the tube, the Berkeley air contained CO2 in concentrations ranging from 410 ppm to 517 ppm. When it came out the other side, the scientists could not detect any carbon dioxide at all, Zhou said. This sounds like it could be the basis for a respirator-like breathing apparatus, not requiring tanks, for entering and staying in enclosed spaces where the concentration of CO2 is high. (Provided there is eno…

That feels super dangerous. CO2 is mostly fine to breathe, but it triggers the impulse to breathe. Without it you won't feel that you're running out of oxygen.

Re: Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO2 from the air as a tree

#10

So it acts like a reusable CO2 trap, then releases said CO2 at the cost of heating it up to 140F. Which then releases it. It doesn't really talk about how you would sequester the gaseous CO2 other than "put it underground."... But if you put a gas underground it will eventually leak out. Even a liquid is prone to leak out eventually due to plate techtonics, but a liquid doesn't immediately turn into gaseous CO2. So t…

If you can extract ~100% pure CO2 from the powder, then it might be feasible to develop a process that can convert very dense CO2 into Carbon and Oxygen.

Carbon is about 3/8ths of the total weight of a CO2 molecule and is solid and relatively inert at room temperature and pressure.

Of course, if there were a convenient way to simply strip carbon off of a CO2 molecule to begin with that would be the ideal system, but I'm sure that can be figured out given enough opportunity.

Plants do it, after all. It's not impossible.

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