Greg and list:
Congratulations. Sounds very promising.
Possibly can be coupled with biochar - which can always also supply
carbon-negative energy. I am unaware of any other approach other than algae
growth that needs the 50% carbon in CO2 form that always must also be coming
from charcoal production. My guess is that a bio-powered electrical generating
station will be of a better size than coal and maybe gas or (in developing
countries) oil.
Some biochar/biofuel operations also need hydrogen.
Ron
On Aug 4, 2015, at 11:54 AM, Greg Rau <[email protected]> wrote:
> Cleans up wastewater, removes CO2, generates H2, and produces beneficial
> ocean alkalinity. What's not to like?
> Greg
>
> http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2015/08/03/cu-boulder-researchers-use-wastewater-treatment-capture-co2-emissions-and
>
> http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b00875
>
> CU-Boulder researchers use wastewater treatment to capture CO2 emissions and
> produce energy
>
> August 3, 2015
> Cleaning up municipal and industrial wastewater can be dirty business, but
> engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed an innovative
> wastewater treatment process that not only mitigates carbon dioxide (CO2)
> emissions, but actively captures greenhouse gases as well.
>
> The treatment method, known as Microbial Electrolytic Carbon Capture (MECC),
> purifies wastewater in an environmentally-friendly fashion by using an
> electrochemical reaction that absorbs more CO2 than it releases while
> creating renewable energy in the process.
>
> “This energy-positive, carbon-negative method could potentially contain huge
> benefits for a number of emission-heavy industries,” said Zhiyong Jason Ren,
> an associate professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
> at CU-Boulder and senior author of the new study, which was recently
> published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
>
> Wastewater treatment typically produces CO2 emissions in two ways: the fossil
> fuels burned to power the machinery, and the decomposition of organic
> material within the wastewater itself. Plus, existing wastewater treatment
> technologies consume high amounts of energy. Public utilities in the United
> States treat an estimated 12 trillion gallons of municipal wastewater each
> year and consume approximately 3 percent of the nation’s grid energy.
>
> Existing carbon capture technologies are energy-intensive and often entail
> costly transportation and storage procedures. MECC uses the natural
> conductivity of saline wastewater to facilitate an electrochemical reaction
> that is designed to absorb CO2 from both the water and the air. The process
> transforms CO2 into stable mineral carbonates and bicarbonates that can be
> used as raw materials by the construction industry, used as a chemical buffer
> in the wastewater treatment cycle itself or used to counter acidity
> downstream from the process such as in the ocean.
>
> The reaction also yields excess hydrogen gas, which can be stored and
> harnessed as energy in a fuel cell.
>
> The findings offer the possibility that wastewater could be treated
> effectively on-site without the risks or costs typically associated with
> disposal. Further research is needed to determine the optimal MECC system
> design and assess the potential for scalability.
>
> “The results should be viewed as a proof-of-concept with promising
> implications for a wide range of industries,” said Ren.
>
> Power companies have many reasons to perk up at the possibility of a
> carbon-negative wastewater treatment solution. The Environmental Protection
> Agency’s Clean Power Plan, expected to take full effect in the year 2020,
> will require power plants to comply with reduced CO2 emission levels.
>
> The study may also have positive long-term implications for the world’s
> oceans. Approximately 25 percent of CO2 emissions are subsequently absorbed
> by the sea, which lowers pH, alters ocean chemistry and hence threatens
> marine organisms, especially coral reefs and shellfish. Dissolved carbonates
> and bicarbonates produced via MECC, however, could act to chemically counter
> these effects if added to the ocean.
>
> “This treatment system generates alkalinity through electrochemical means and
> we could potentially use that to help offset the effects of ocean
> acidification,” said Greg Rau, a senior researcher at the Institute of Marine
> Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz and a co-author of the
> study. “This is one of several environmentally-friendly things this
> technology does.”
>
> Many wastewater treatment plants are located on coastlines, raising the
> possibility that future MECC implementation in these facilities could couple
> both CO2 and ocean acidity mitigation.
>
> Lu Lu and Zhe Huang, both graduate researchers in the Department of Civil,
> Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at CU-Boulder, co-authored the
> study. The National Science Foundation provided funding for the research.
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "geoengineering" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to [email protected].
> To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"geoengineering" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
