Transforming Emissions into Valuable Products With Carbon Capture

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) removes the aggressive gas from the atmosphere, allowing humans to repurpose it. It can relieve the planet's warming effects while transforming into valuable products. The era of circular carbon is here, and experts are researching and developing ways to make the technology even more eco-friendly and versatile.

The Reputation of Carbon Capture Technologies

CCU has received mixed reception from climate and energy experts. Many fossil fuel companies — including coal and natural gas — deploy it to use their greenhouse gas by-products. It decarbonizes the sector while encouraging greenwashing and perpetuates a cleaner yet deceptive image of fossil fuels, potentially prolonging their relevance in society.

Most organizations deposit carbon in burials beneath the Earth’s crust, preventing it from returning to the carbon cycle, but this is wasted potential. CCU equipment could harness 27 gigatons by 2050, opening up $4.4 trillion in economic boons. Circular applications of the captured resource could change industry attitudes to prioritize the technology.

CCU is a helpful intermediary solution as society phases out fossil fuels. Other carbon capture options are available, for example, directly pulling it from the atmosphere instead of storing newly created gas. However, implementation is expensive and complicated for many, so researchers are trying to find ways to change this aspect of the innovation’s public image.

The Potential of Carbon Products

Many sectors are discovering unique applications of captured carbon, designing an accessible and immediate way to reduce industry emissions. Just a few examples below:

Eco-Friendly Jet Fuel
A team led by the Pratt & Whitney Institute for Collaborative Engineering is making it easier to convert carbon into jet fuel. Aerospace and aviation are highly consumptive industries, with fuel being their most notable red flag. Additional collaborators are optimizing carbon-free energy resources to enhance the process. Streamlining reactor catalysts and adsorbents will generate enough heat to make these products.

Sustainable Food and Water Treatment 
Chlorella vulgaris is a freshwater alga being studied by the University of Birmingham. It is a renewable, dense and nutritious food source, with 58% of its dry weight being protein. Its rapid growth potential could solve insecurity in certain regions while serving as a potent carbon sink. The alga can also transform the carbon it absorbs, empowering it to advance wastewater treatment.

Building Materials and Batteries
CCU has the potential to elevate construction. Businesses have used electrochemical transformation and molten salt carbon to make graphite and nanomaterials. It is a powerful experiment as the world struggles with graphite deficits. The process creates a revolutionary concrete but also has applications in the automotive sector for battery and coating creation.

Specialty Chemicals
Companies are also creating methanol and ethylene from carbon. The chemical industry is a hazardous and polluting sector, desperate for sustainably sourced alternatives. One project is reimagining nonthermal plasma catalysis to lower the energy required to make chemicals while making them safer. The research could solve the issue of scalability with plasma-active catalysts.

Carbon-Negative Alcohol
Alcohol is a prominent industry that many do not associate with high emissions. However, professionals are testing the possibility of a carbon-negative vodka, which would remove one pound of carbon from the atmosphere per bottle. The capture equipment works alongside an electrolyzer to create ethanol. Add water, and the business has made a sustainable spirit.

Ethical Diamonds
When shopping for jewelry, consumers are too enraptured by a diamond’s beauty rather than considering the impacts of mining. With CCU, a lab-grown diamond startup pulls 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide per carat. The CEO discovered that the method will only become standard if the process has a lower price point, but it gives many valuable insights into what is possible for luxury products.

The Future and Challenges of CCU
CCU’s prospects are inspired, but the industry must overcome obstacles before it reaches commercial viability and comprehensive sustainability. They include, but are not limited to:

• High energy requirements: CCU needs a lot of power to convert the gas into a usable product, so designing cost-effective and smarter renewable energy systems is essential
• Low funding for research and development: Disinterest and lack of awareness hinder CCU’s ability to attract public and private investments to mature the technology
• Increased interest in product demand: Organizations developing carbon capture products must boost advertising and educational efforts to reinforce sustainability and relevance
• Better regulatory incentives: Companies must be financially convinced and mandated to participate in CCU adoption
• Safer transportation: Captured carbon requires specific vehicles and storage solutions, which pose risks to workforces and demand greater oversight and guidance to ease industry concerns.

Commercial Carbon
A decarbonized planet requires diverse solutions. Pulling the gas out of the atmosphere and burying it can cool the world, but the equipment is more productive when using the carbon to humanity’s advantage. Conventionally destructive products like fuels can become renewable and emissions-free, making CCU technologies one of the most critical for a sustainable future.