Researchers from the South West are working on a £1.4 million project that could take carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into car fuel.
The research, led by the University of Bath, is a collaboration with scientists and engineers from the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.
The project aims to develop porous materials that can absorb the gas that causes global warming and convert it into chemicals that can be used to make car fuel or plastics in a process powered by renewable solar energy.
The researchers hope that in the future the porous materials could be used to line factory chimneys to take carbon dioxide pollutants from the air, reducing the effects of climate change.
Dr Frank Marken, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Bath, said: “Current processes rely on using separate technology to capture and utilise the CO2, which makes the process very inefficient.
“By combining the processes the efficiency can be improved and the energy required to drive the CO2 reduction is minimised.
“It will be a massive challenge but we have a strong inter-disciplinary team that includes chemists, chemical engineers, biologists, and life-cycle analysts.”
Dr Petra Cameron, RCUK Fellow from the Department of Chemistry at Bath, said: “We hope that the use of renewable energy to recycle CO2 will be an effective way to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.”
The Bath-Bristol collaboration brings together scientists from a range of disciplines, including researchers from Bath’s Institute for Sustainable Energy & the Environment (I-SEE), the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) and School of Life Sciences at the University of the West of England.
Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, of BRL, said: “One of great advantages of this project is that it will exploit the natural abilities of microorganisms to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and at the same time produce electricity or hydrogen, as required.”
Dr David Fermin from the University of Bristol said: “Currently, there are no large-scale technologies available for capturing and processing CO2 from air. The facts are that CO2 is rather diluted in the atmosphere and its chemical reactivity is very low.
“By combining clever material design with heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis and biocatalysis, we aim at developing an effective carbon neutral technology.”
The research collaboration came about as a result of networking sessions organised by the University’s Research Development & Collaborations team, led by Dr Jon Hunt from the Research Development Support Office (RDSO).
The Bath-Bristol consortium put together the successful bid in response to a call from RCUK’s Nanoscience through engineering to application programme, as part of their “Grand Challenges” scheme.
Dr Petra Cameron explained: “The team from RDSO organised an event in Bath for academics from Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey the week the call from RCUK was announced.
“Representatives from the EPSRC and NERC presented information on the call and the RDSO team facilitated networking sessions that led to the formation of the successful consortium.”
Dr Jon Hunt, Head of Research Development & Collaborations in RDSO, said: “This is a great example of how networking events can lead to fruitful collaborations to work on major projects that could really make a difference to global CO2 emissions.”
The University of Bath’s project was funded from the 3rd Grand Challenge relating to the Environment – specifically a call for Nanoscience and Engineering applications to capture and utilise CO2.
The project partners are the Department of Chemical Engineering (D. Mattia, P. Plucinski), the Department of Chemistry and the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (P. Raithby, S. Pascu, M. Jones, P. Cameron, K. Edler, A. Burrows, F. Marken), the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment (G. Hammond, M. McManus), the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol (D. Fermin), and the School of Life Sciences at UWE (J. Greenman, I. Ieropoulos).
The project, funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is in its early stages, but the researchers predict the new technology could make a real difference in the fight against climate change.