Spiral Membrane	Artificial Tree	Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Millions of people drive cars everyday. The outcome of all these cars: pollution! The amount of exhaust created by all these cars is enormous! One of the gases in the exhaust is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps most of the sun’s heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the three main gases emitted after the exhaust passes through the catalytic converter. The other gasses are water vapor and nitrogen. The problem is that cars are creating a lot of carbon dioxide, which is contributing to global warming and causing ocean acidification. However, this problem is not being overlooked.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Right now, people are using carbon capture methods to trap carbon dioxide. Carbon capture has been used for decades. It reduces the amount of carbon getting released into the air by about 80-90%. Here’s how it works: First, a solvent (type of filter) is used to trap and separate the carbon dioxide from other gasses. click here for details.

Next, the carbon dioxide is transported to a storage location in the ocean or deep underground. Power plants and oil industries have used a type of carbon capture known as post-combustion carbon capture. This involves removing the carbon dioxide after the fuel is burned. click here for details.

Artificial Tree

Another invention researchers have created is the Artificial Tree. During a whole day, an artificial tree absorbs about a ton of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by 20 cars. The artificial tree gathers the carbon dioxide on a sorbant (solvent) and cleans and pressurizes it. After, it is released to the storage place. Even though this is a big improvement, it is still currently in the development stage at Global Research Technology, a company based in Tuscan, Arizona. Global Research Technology is co-founded by Klaus Lackner, who came up with the idea. Next we will talk about the inventions from the past.