Electrolyser turns CO2 from air into jet fuel

Carbon dioxide captured from air can be used to make products including jet fuel or plastics, but the process is energy intensive and costly.

Now, a team led by Prof Ted Sargent at the University of Toronto (U of T) has developed an electrochemical method of converting CO₂ that increases overall energy efficiency by avoiding some of the more energy-intensive losses.

One company investigating direct-air carbon capture is Carbon Engineering whose pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia, captures CO₂ by forcing air through an alkaline liquid solution. The CO₂ dissolves in the liquid, forming a carbonate.

To be fully recycled, the dissolved carbonate is normally turned back into CO₂ gas, and then into chemical building blocks that form the basis of fuels and plastics. According to U of T, one way to do this is to add chemicals that convert the carbonate into a solid salt. This salt powder is then heated at temperatures above 900^oC to produce CO₂ gas that can undergo further transformations. The energy required for this heating drives up the cost of the resulting products.