How do you solve a problem like Maria, how do you catch a cloud and pin it down? Catching the cloud is as difficult as catching a gas like carbon dioxide (CO2). I am certain that scientists like Adam Rondione, and Daniel Nocera were humming this tune as they were trying to solve a problem called CO2. Unlike the nuns in the Sound of Music, these scientists managed to solve this problem in their labs, and 'catch' CO2!
This one problem occupies the minds of climate change scientists, governments, policy makers, environmental activists and millions of aware, concerned citizens - the problem of excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) that human beings are emitting into the atmosphere. The United Nations has garnered global support from nations to reduce the amount of CO2 they emit in the future. Pressure is building to move from fossil fuel fired electricity generation plants, to low carbon renewable energy plants.
While a lot of focus is on mitigating the effects of climate change and reducing emission of CO2, by motivating nations to migrate to a low carbon economy, scientists are also working on negating the CO2 that is already in the atmosphere, and more is being added as you read these words. Is there a way of taking this CO2 out of the atmosphere and making it disappear?
Last month, the journal Chemistry Select published a breakthrough achieved by a team of scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, led by Adam Rondine. They discovered a chemical reaction that turns CO2 into ethanol. In a manner of speaking, this was an accidental discovery, because the scientists were actually attempting to find a series of chemical reactions that could turn CO2 into a useful fuel, when they realised that the first step in their process managed to do it all by itself. The reaction turns CO2 into ethanol that can now be used as a fuel to power generators, thereby closing the loop - so as you produce CO2 while burning fossil fuels, this CO2 can now be converted to ethanol and used as fuel again!
In June this year, the journal Science published another attempt by Harvard researchers, Daniel Nocera and Pamela Silver to use CO2 from the atmosphere for something useful. They developed a 'bionic leaf' that copies the natural process of photosynthesis, and converts water and CO2 into fuel. These researchers developed a two part system that uses solar power to split water into hydrogen, and then use a bacteria to convert the hydrogen along with CO2 from the atmosphere, into liquid fuels.
While the main attraction of these technologies is that it removes CO2 from the atmosphere, which we all know is a greenhouse gas, that is resulting in global warning that leads to extreme climate events, there are other benefits. One of them is that these technologies act as a storage mechanism to countries and electricity utilities that are already using renewable energy from sources like the wind and solar. Denmark is a case in point.
Denmark has said that it will stop using all fossil fuels by 2050 - a laudable intent. With a massive wind power infrastructure, this intent is on its way to reality, as they already produce 40% of their energy from renewables and will reach 50% by 2020. To reach the 100% mark, Denmark must be able to store its renewable energy for windless days or for days when the blistering winter makes more demands for heating from the homes. This is where technologies that can convert existing raw material to a form that can be used as a fuel to further generate electricity becomes very useful. And what better raw material than CO2. This is a double benefit - storage of electricity and removing the all damaging greenhouse gas - CO2
In Shakespeare's comedy, Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio manages to, with various psychological torments temper, Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew to become compliant and obedient bride. In these modern times, we thank scientists like Adam Rondione, Daniel Noceraand others for doing the same with the shrew of the modern world - CO2.
