Check out the episode:

You can find the shownotes through this link.

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Are you interested in carbon capture and sequestration?

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Our summary today works with the article titled TTrends in research and development for CO2 capture and sequestration from 2023 by Xiang Yu, Carmen Otilia Catanescu, Robert E. Bird, Sriram Satagopan, Zachary J. Baum, Leilani M. Lotti Diaz, and Qiongqiong Angela Zhou, published in the American Chemical Society journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Beth McDaniel in episode 276 talking about carbon capture through reactive surfaces.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the research trends and technologies regarding carbon capture. This article presents the crucial methods and materials for carbon capture and sequestration to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.

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Welcome to today’s What is The Future For Cities podcast and its Research episode; my name is Fanni, and today I will introduce a research paper by summarising it. The episode really is just a short summary of the original paper, and, in case it is interesting enough, I would encourage everyone to check out the whole paper. Stay tuned until because I will give you the 3 most important things and some questions which would be interesting to discuss.

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) plays an essential role in supporting life on Earth, but its excess in the atmosphere is driving global warming and climate change. Over the past century, CO2 levels have risen significantly, driven by human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. This rapid increase has accelerated global temperature rise, pushing scientists, policymakers, and industries to find ways to reduce CO2 emissions and remove existing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Efforts to address this issue led to the United Nations’ commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This global initiative aims to balance the amount of CO2 emitted with the amount removed from the atmosphere. To make this possible, new technologies and methods for capturing and storing CO2 are being developed. This includes biological, chemical, and geological processes that aim to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and restore the natural carbon balance.

Over the past two decades, research on CO2 capture and sequestration has gained momentum. The number of scientific publications in this field has grown steadily, reflecting a global push to find scalable solutions. Notably, the rapid increase in research in the early 2000s coincided with global efforts to curb emissions. However, this momentum slowed in the mid-2010s due to economic factors, such as fluctuating oil prices, which impacted investment in carbon capture technologies.

China has emerged as a leader in CO2 capture research, producing a large volume of studies, followed by other nations like the United States and India. Interestingly, while journal publications dominate this field, patent activity remains relatively low, indicating that the commercial application of these technologies is still in its early stages. Despite these challenges, new concepts and materials are continuously being explored, suggesting that significant breakthroughs could be on the horizon.

Capturing CO2 from industrial emissions is a key focus of current research. The most common methods include post-combustion capture, where CO2 is separated from flue gases after fuel combustion, and pre-combustion capture, which involves removing CO2 from fossil fuels before they are burned. Oxy-fuel combustion, another promising approach, burns fuel in pure oxygen, producing a flue gas that is primarily CO2 and water, making separation easier.

Emerging methods such as chemical looping combustion, where CO2 is captured using metal oxides, show promise but are still in the early stages of development. Direct air capture (DAC) offers the potential to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, but the high cost and energy requirements limit its current feasibility. Nonetheless, with increased funding, DAC is becoming a more attractive option for negative emissions technology.

Once CO2 is captured, it must be stored or used in a way that prevents it from re-entering the atmosphere. Geological sequestration involves storing CO2 underground in rock formations or saline aquifers, where it can be trapped for thousands of years. This method has proven effective in pilot projects and is considered one of the most reliable ways to store CO2 long-term.

Another approach is mineral carbonation, which involves converting CO2 into stable carbonate minerals that can be stored or used in construction materials. This method is particularly appealing because it produces valuable by-products like calcium carbonate, but it is still relatively costly and not widely adopted. Biological sequestration, which harnesses natural processes like photosynthesis to lock away carbon in plants and soils, offers a sustainable option but requires vast amounts of land and careful management.

Research on CO2 capture and sequestration is advancing rapidly, with new materials, methods, and technologies offering hope for reducing atmospheric CO2. While significant challenges remain, particularly in scaling up these solutions and making them economically viable, the progress being made is encouraging. With such technologies and methods, industries, policymakers, and environmental groups can strive to meet the net-zero targets and combat climate change.

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What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Do you have any follow up question? Let me know on Twitter at WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the transcripts and show notes are available! Additionally, I will highly appreciate if you consider subscribing to the podcast or on the website. I hope this was an interesting paper for you as well, and thanks for tuning in!

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Finally, as the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. CO2 capture and sequestration technologies are essential for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
2. New methods like chemical looping and direct air capture are emerging but require further development to become commercially viable.
3. Geological sequestration and mineral carbonation offer promising long-term storage solutions, but scaling and cost remain challenges.

Additionally, it would be great to talk about the following questions:

1. What carbon capture and sequestration methodologies and technologies have you heard of before?
2. How do you think carbon capture technologies will impact the energy industry in the next decade?
3. What role do you believe individuals can play in supporting large-scale CO2 sequestration efforts?

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