Carbon - a theme that is continuously on the news in various shapes and sizes, usually with a negative connotation... We think that with all that is happening in the world right now, we desperately need some positive and inspiring news too.
So, this week we decided to focus our discussion on some more uplifting aspects of carbon and would like to share with you some of the most interesting and innovative carbon capture methods that are out there!
Once our discussion started, we actually realized that we are all a bit confused about the terminology used relating to different carbon-related technologies. So, we might as well share a little glossary regarding CO2 here too before diving into the most interesting finds:
- CO2 avoided: Avoided emissions are the result of intentional human activities that lead to lower or no CO2 from previously carbon-emitting processes.
- CO2 removed: Refers to human-driven extraction of CO2 from the atmosphere combined with its permanent storage.
- CO2 reduced: Also known as ‘decarbonization’ and tends to refer to the process of reducing ‘carbon intensity’, lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Generally, this involves decreasing CO2 output per unit of electricity generated.
- CO2 utilized: Known as an industrial process that makes an economically valuable product using CO2 at concentrations above atmospheric levels. CO2 is either transformed using chemical reactions into materials, chemicals and fuels, or it’s used directly in processes such as enhanced oil recovery.
So here are the top 3 most interesting carbon reduction/decarbonization technological inventions, strictly in BeCause’s opinion, that might just help us limit global warming below 1.5°C:
Physicist and engineer Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University, has developed an artificial tree that can capture carbon dioxide directly out of the air and perform as much as 1,000 times more efficiently than nature’s trees in doing so.
These trees look nothing like your average oak or maple, in our opinion, it looks more like a bottle washing brush or a feather, nevertheless, it functions similarly to a natural tree by absorbing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. These “trees” are made from a special resin, a unique plastic that sponges up CO2 from the air in a chemical reaction. When the resin is dry, it absorbs the C02. And when the resin is submerged in water, it releases carbon dioxide.
This technology could recycle the captured carbon dioxide and use it to as a resource to make fuel, “closing the loop” of industrial carbon emissions.
However, quite an impressive amount of Lackner’s units would need to be produced, each unit removes one metric ton of CO2 daily, we would have to install one hundred million of these to remove the amount of CO2 the world is currently emitting annually.
This technology is currently being field tested, and who knows, maybe soon you shall be admiring these on your daily walk! We are not sure about the aesthetic appeal of having such “trees”, but I guess that is jumping in into a whole new discussion...
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, especially if the bling holds a carbon-negative aspect one could brag about! We have discovered Aether, aetherdiamonds.com, a jewelry company that is creating artificial diamonds by capturing carbon from the atmosphere.
Their diamond creation includes a 4-step production process:
- CO2 Capture from the atmosphere: a direct air capture technology is used to extract CO2 from the atmosphere.
- Hydrocarbon synthesis: the captured CO2 is then synthesized into the hydrocarbon feedstock required for growing diamonds in a chemical vapor deposition reactor.
- Diamond growth: the hydrocarbon raw material is fed into specialized chemical vapor deposition reactors that are powered by 100% clean energy. Over the next few weeks, diamond crystals grow one ambitious atom at a time.
- Finishing touches: once the diamond crystals are fully formed, they are then sent to Aether’s expert craftspeople to cut, polish, and set them into their next piece of jewelry.
Their vision to create the world's first positive-impact diamonds is just the beginning, as they are committed to becoming an independently carbon-negative company by 2023. Aether is actively building a future where they also generate their own renewable energy sources, and furthermore return excess clean power to the grid.
We wish them all success with their sparkling endeavors! And, Aether, we wouldn’t mind testing your products! #influenceralert 😊
Underwater Seagrass Meadows!
(Not technological, but let’s count it as a product of our planet’s bio-engineering genius)
We live on a blue planet, meaning that three quarters of our planet are covered in water and as much as 97,5% of this water is salt water. This, very evidently, gives us a huge potential for finding ways of efficiently using the space for carbon reduction projects.
This is already happening under the beautiful turquoise waters of the natural park of Ses Salines, a huge underwater meadow of Posidonia seagrass, not far from Ibiza and Formentera. This plant, Posidonia oceanica or posidonia mediterranea, is an aquatic plant endemic to this region of the Mediterranean Sea, and holds the capacity to store more CO2 than your average forest of the same size! Of course, many factors influence the exact amount of how much carbon that can be taken up by a seagrass meadow, but rough calculations show that if one hectare of seagrass would be planted, the amount of carbon it would sequester would correspond to at least 10 hectares of dry-land forest.
Planting such meadows also does not pose a massive challenge, as these plants produce seeds that can be sown in the seabed or small shoots that can be planted by divers, what a holiday destination activity that would make! Sign us up!
As you see, carbon is not always a doomsday-related topic but can present itself in various shapes and sizes. For example, we wouldn’t mind at all sharing the carbon removal burden by wearing an 8-carat diamond ring, and to be extra supportive, we can take it on a dive while distributing some Posidonia oceanica seeds and then drying up in the shade of Klaus Lackner’s tree! Sold!
"Kaboni ni mada ambayo ni daima juu ya habari katika maumbo mbalimbali na ukubwa, kwa kawaida na connotation hasi. ""Tunafikiri kwamba na yote ambayo ni kutokea katika dunia sasa hivi, sisi desperately haja ya baadhi ya habari chanya na kuchochea pia." Kwa hivyo, wiki hii tumeamua kuzingatia majadiliano yetu juu ya mambo mengine ya kuongeza kaboni na tungependa kushiriki na wewe baadhi ya mbinu za kuvutia zaidi na za ubunifu za kukamata kaboni ambazo zipo! Baada ya mazungumzo yetu kuanza, tuligundua kuwa sisi sote tumechanganyikiwa kidogo kuhusu maneno yanayotumiwa kuhusiana na teknolojia tofauti zinazohusiana na kaboni. Kwa hivyo, tunaweza pia kushiriki glossary kidogo kuhusu CO2 hapa pia kabla ya kupiga mbizi katika ugunduzi wa kuvutia zaidi: CO2 kuepukwa: uzalishaji unaopuuzwa ni matokeo ya shughuli za binadamu za makusudi ambazo husababisha CO2 ya chini au hakuna kutoka kwa michakato ya awali ya uzalishaji wa kaboni. CO2 kuondolewa: Inahusu extraction binadamu-kuendeshwa ya CO2 kutoka angahewa pamoja na kuhifadhi yake ya kudumu. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""decarbonization"" ni mchakato wa kupunguza kiwango cha kaboni, kupunguza kiasi cha uzalishaji wa gesi chafu inayotokana na kuchoma mafuta ya mafuta." Kwa ujumla, hii inahusisha kupungua kwa pato la CO2 kwa kitengo cha umeme uliotengenezwa. CO2 kutumika: Inajulikana kama mchakato wa viwanda ambayo hufanya bidhaa ya kiuchumi thamani kwa kutumia CO2 katika viwango vya juu ya viwango vya angahewa. CO2 ni ama kubadilishwa kwa kutumia athari za kemikali katika vifaa, kemikali na mafuta, au ni kutumika moja kwa moja katika michakato kama vile kuongezeka mafuta upatikanaji. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Mchanganyiko wa Carbon dioxide na Carbon dioxide ya asili ni muhimu kwa ajili ya kupunguza joto la dunia chini ya 1.5 ° C. ""Klaus Lackner, Mkurugenzi wa Kituo cha Negative Carbon Emissions katika Chuo Kikuu cha Jimbo la Arizona, amebuni mti wa bandia ambao unaweza kukamata carbon dioxide moja kwa moja kutoka hewa na kufanya kazi mara 1,000 zaidi kuliko miti ya asili." Mti huu haufanani na mwaloni au mwaloni wa kawaida, kwa maoni yetu, unaonekana kama brashi ya kuosha chupa au manyoya, hata hivyo, inafanya kazi sawa na mti wa asili kwa kunyonya kaboni dioksidi nje ya anga. "Miti" hiyo imetengenezwa kwa utomvu wa pekee, plastiki ya kipekee ambayo huchukua CO2 kutoka hewani katika mmenyuko wa kemikali. Wakati resini ni kavu, huchukua CO2. Wakati resini hiyo inapozama ndani ya maji, hutokeza kaboni dioksidi. Teknolojia hii inaweza kuchakata dioksidi kaboni iliyokamatwa na kuitumia kama rasilimali ya kutengeneza mafuta, "kufunga kitanzi" cha uzalishaji wa kaboni wa viwanda. "Lakini, kiasi kikubwa cha vitengo vya Lackner kinahitaji kutengenezwa, kila kitengo huondoa tani moja ya CO2 kila siku, tunapaswa kuweka milioni 100 ya hizi ili kuondoa kiasi cha CO2 ambayo ulimwengu unatupa kila mwaka.""" Teknolojia hii kwa sasa inajaribiwa shambani, na ni nani anayejua, labda hivi karibuni utapendezwa nayo katika kutembea kwako kwa kila siku! Hatuna uhakika kuhusu rufaa ya aesthetic ya kuwa na kama <unk>miti<unk>, lakini nadhani kwamba ni kuruka katika mjadala mpya kabisa... Almasi ni rafiki bora wa msichana, hasa kama bling ana carbon-negative kipengele moja inaweza kujigamba kuhusu! Aether, kampuni ya vito ya Aether, imeanzisha biashara ya vito vya aether, ambayo ni biashara ya kuunda almasi za bandia kwa kuchukua kaboni kutoka angahewa. Uundaji wa almasi ni mchakato wa hatua nne: CO2 Capture kutoka angahewa: teknolojia ya moja kwa moja ya hewa ya kuvutia hutumiwa kuondoa CO2 kutoka angahewa. -Uunganisho wa hidrokarboni: CO2 iliyokamatwa huunganishwa kisha kuwa malighafi ya hidrokarboni inayohitajika kwa kukuza almasi katika kichocheo cha uingizaji wa mvuke wa kemikali. - Kukua kwa almasi: malighafi ya hidrokarboni huingizwa katika mitambo maalum ya uingizaji wa mvuke wa kemikali ambayo inaendeshwa na nishati safi ya 100% Katika majuma machache yanayofuata, fuwele za almasi hukua atomu moja kwa wakati. - Touches kumaliza: mara moja almasi fuwele ni kikamilifu umbo, wao ni kisha kutumwa kwa Aether ya wataalamu wa ufundi kukata, polish, na kuweka yao katika kipande cha pili ya vito. Maono yao ya kuunda almasi za kwanza za athari nzuri ulimwenguni ni mwanzo tu, kwani wamejitolea kuwa kampuni huru ya kaboni hasi ifikapo 2023. Aether inajenga kwa bidii siku zijazo ambapo pia hutengeneza vyanzo vyao vya nishati mbadala, na zaidi ya hayo hurudisha nguvu ya ziada safi kwenye gridi. Tunawatakia wote mafanikio katika jitihada zao zenye kung'aa! Na, Aether, hatungependa kujaribu bidhaa zako! #influenceralert <unk> Seagrass Meadows ya chini ya maji! "Hii ni kwa sababu ya ""bioengineering"" ambayo ni sehemu ya ""blue planet"" ambayo ina maana kwamba asilimia 3 ya dunia imefunikwa na maji na asilimia 97,5% ya maji hayo ni maji ya chumvi." Hii, dhahiri sana, inatupa uwezo mkubwa wa kupata njia za kutumia nafasi kwa ufanisi kwa miradi ya kupunguza kaboni. Sehemu ya chini ya maji ya asili ya Ses Salines, eneo kubwa la chini ya maji la Posidonia, karibu na Ibiza na Formentera. Mti huu, Posidonia oceanica au Posidonia mediterranea, ni mimea ya majini ya eneo hili la Bahari ya Mediterania, na ina uwezo wa kuhifadhi CO2 zaidi kuliko msitu wako wa kawaida wa ukubwa sawa! "Kwa kweli, kuna mambo mengi yanayoathiri kiasi halisi cha kaboni ambacho kinaweza kuchukuliwa na nyasi ya bahari, lakini hesabu za karibu zinaonyesha kwamba ikiwa hekta moja ya nyasi ya bahari ingepandwa, kiasi cha kaboni ambacho ingekamata kingalingana na angalau hekta 10 za msitu wa ardhi kavu.""" Kupanda nyasi kama hizo pia si changamoto kubwa, kwani mimea hii inazalisha mbegu ambazo zinaweza kupandwa kwenye sakafu ya bahari au matawi madogo ambayo yanaweza kupandwa na wapiga mbizi, ambayo ingekuwa shughuli nzuri ya likizo! Tuandikishe! Kama unavyoona, kaboni sio daima mada inayohusiana na siku ya mwisho lakini inaweza kujitokeza katika maumbo na ukubwa tofauti. Kwa mfano, hatungependa kushiriki mzigo wa kuondoa kaboni kwa kuvaa pete ya almasi ya karati nane, na kuwa msaada wa ziada, tunaweza kuchukua dive wakati wa kusambaza baadhi ya mbegu Posidonia oceanica na kisha kukauka katika kivuli cha mti wa Klaus Lackner! Imeuzwa!