Alberta researchers claim their machine removes CO2 from air
Kelly Cryderman , Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, September 29, 2008
CALGARY - A team of University of Calgary researchers say they have built a simple machine that can capture carbon dioxide right out of the air, and that could operate anywhere on the planet.
The researchers, led by renown climate-change scientist David Keith, acknowledge they are one of several groups of North American scientists vying to create a version of the technology that's efficient enough to become commercially viable.
But this past summer, Keith's team was able to measure how much CO2 they took out of the ambient air during an outdoor test at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
Although still in an early stage of development, Keith believes the technology could be a key part in an array of strategies as the environmental and financial costs of emitting carbon soar, especially for companies in resource-rich Alberta, a province facing international pressure to clean up its oilsands.
"This may sound self-serving, but I think it's true: Alberta needs to really work hard at trying to get Alberta companies competitive at novel ways to manage energy in a CO2-constrained world," Keith said Monday.
"It means everything from solar and wind, to things like this, to just doing the oilsands better."
Keith and his researchers believe their four years of work is particularly significant because "air capture" technology is the only way to trap CO2 emissions from transportation sources such as vehicles and aircraft, which are significant greenhouse-gas producers.
Keith's technology works through a machine that resembles a large telescope.
Ambient air is captured and the CO2 is extracted using sodium hydroxide, which absorbs the CO2. The CO2 is extracted from the hydroxide solution.
Keith's machine is relatively energy efficient, and he says the captured CO2 could be stored, used for enhanced recovery of oil or gas or, possibly, used as an ingredient for fuel.
Since CO2 travels, a plant using air-capture technology could be built anywhere in the world, wherever it's cheapest to operate. An oilsands operator in Alberta could pay for the CO2 removal in a locale as distant as China, said Keith, a director at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy.
Other researchers at Columbia University in New York City and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California are also working on the air-capture of CO2, but Keith believes his simple and reliable version could open the door to a commercial-scale plant.
"Who will actually take it forward is now a horse race," Keith said.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Monday its position has always been that technology advances are key to achieving major CO2 emission reductions.
"It will be a real coup for Alberta if the U of C can succeed," said Rick Hyndman, the association's senior policy adviser for climate change and air issues.
"The concept of capture of CO2 from the atmosphere has been talked about for some time, but having a live experiment that has the potential to be commercial is truly encouraging," he said.
"This is not going to be cheap, but it sounds as if it could be comparable to the cost of other actions being considered."
Marlo Raynolds, executive director of the Pembina Institute - an environmental think-tank - said it's important that Canada continue to develop technologies to impact greenhouse gases, because there's no "silver bullet."
Given the scale of global warming, "It's going to require a real portfolio of solutions.
"This technology isn't going to make energy any cheaper," Raynolds said. "This technology is not going to make our local air quality any cleaner. I think what's critical is that we're looking at all the benefits of taking action on reducing greenhouse-gas pollution."
Keith and his team's research is featured in an episode of Discovery Channel's new Project Earth series that will air in Canada in January.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...b-ad52be9954ec
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