The Potential of Carbon Capture
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Student
Faculty/Staff Department
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
Student Year and Major
Senior, Aerospace Engineering
Invited Speaker Institution/Department
HON 350 Seminar
Presentation Description/Abstract
Temperatures are rising, and to avoid widespread catastrophic consequences, global emissions need to be halved by the year 2030. There are endless ideas of what we can do to cut back or even eliminate our emissions, from restrictions on fossil fuels to geoengineering our atmosphere. This research focuses on one of the most promising ideas: carbon capture. Carbon capture involves the extraction of CO2 directly from the atmosphere using a simple electrochemical cycle and would allow for safe handling of the greenhouse gas. This technology is being developed around the globe, but the focus of this research is specifically on the project led by Aaron Sabin, a student at Harvard’s Engineering School. The attractiveness of carbon capture is that once it is optimized, it can be driven purely by solar energy which means the system(s) won’t have to make up for any self-emission. Furthermore, this technology can be physically scaled up to great proportions allowing for large amounts of carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere. The impact that this technology could have on the future is massive, and the time to capitalize on it is now.
Keywords
climate change, geoengineering, carbon capture, CO2, emissions, global warming, environment, greenhouse gases
The Potential of Carbon Capture
Temperatures are rising, and to avoid widespread catastrophic consequences, global emissions need to be halved by the year 2030. There are endless ideas of what we can do to cut back or even eliminate our emissions, from restrictions on fossil fuels to geoengineering our atmosphere. This research focuses on one of the most promising ideas: carbon capture. Carbon capture involves the extraction of CO2 directly from the atmosphere using a simple electrochemical cycle and would allow for safe handling of the greenhouse gas. This technology is being developed around the globe, but the focus of this research is specifically on the project led by Aaron Sabin, a student at Harvard’s Engineering School. The attractiveness of carbon capture is that once it is optimized, it can be driven purely by solar energy which means the system(s) won’t have to make up for any self-emission. Furthermore, this technology can be physically scaled up to great proportions allowing for large amounts of carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere. The impact that this technology could have on the future is massive, and the time to capitalize on it is now.