FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN
Conditions at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Management Site in Bekasi City, West Java, Tuesday (27/6/2023).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Researchers from the University of Cambridge are developing a solar-powered reactor that can convert carbon dioxide and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. This innovation can be further developed to reduce the need for fossil fuels.
Quoting Science Daily, Thursday (29/6/2023), the discovery shows how carbon dioxide, both from industrial exhaust and air, can be converted into clean renewable energy simply by harnessing solar energy.
Through this method, the researchers succeeded in converting carbon dioxide into “syngas” or synthetic gas. They also succeeded in turning plastic bottles into glycolic acid, a chemical commonly found in cosmetic products.
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According to Erwin Reisner, Head Researcher at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, Yusuf Hamied, the research was inspired by photosynthesis, in which plants use sunlight in the process of cooking food. Using a similar concept, he and his team developed an “artificial leaf” that converts carbon dioxide and water into fuel powered by the sun.
Carbon dioxide, both from industrial exhaust and air, can be converted into clean renewable energy simply by harnessing solar energy.
Unlike previous experiments which used a carbon dioxide source, this time the researchers extracted carbon dioxide from industrial waste and ambient air. This technology can capture, concentrate and convert carbon dioxide into renewable fuels.
The concept also draws ideas from underground carbon capture and storage. However, researchers are changing technology systems with solar power to work with exhaust gases or directly from the air.
“Carbon capture techniques are well established. However, it is very difficult to separate carbon dioxide from the various molecules that are in the air,” said Reisner.
Although the technology still needs to be improved, according to Reisner, the findings indicate an important step towards producing environmentally friendly fuels. This breakthrough has the potential to eliminate the need for hazardous oil and gas extraction.
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Reisner stated, the ultimate goal of the research is to eliminate fossil fuels to create a true circular economy. “We are not only interested in decarbonization, but also with ‘defossilization’. We need to completely eliminate fossil fuels to create a truly circular economy,” said Reisner.
According to Qian Wang, a research member from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, harvesting solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into fuel is a promising way to reduce carbon emissions as well as shift away from fossil fuels. However, it is difficult to produce clean fuel without by-products.
Meanwhile, fellow researcher from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, Sayan Kar, said the solar-powered system takes two harmful waste products (plastic and carbon emissions) and turns them into something actually useful.
“The fact that we can effectively take carbon dioxide out of the air and make something useful out of it is something special. It’s very satisfying to see that we can actually do it using only sunlight,” he said.
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Kar added that in the future, the system could become more versatile and produce more complex products, simply by changing the catalyst. The researchers hope that one day the system could be used to develop a fully solar-powered recycling plant.
Currently scientists are working on a pilot device. They are increasing efficiency to combine direct air capture with carbon dioxide utilization as a pathway to a zero-carbon future.
2023-06-29 13:06:32
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