Engineers innovate an effective carbon capture technology through the use of mechanical trees

Arizona State University Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is advancing carbon management technologies that can capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from ambient air in an outdoor operating environment. Arizona State University’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE), with our commercial partner, Carbon Collect, is testing a prototype technology that would remove CO2 from the air through the use of MechanicalTrees™. Widespread use of such a technology could help draw CO2 out of the air and reduce global warming. The CO2 collected by the Mechanical Trees ™ can then be converted into a carbon neutral fuel or other useful chemicals, or disposed of to cancel out present or past emissions. The specific design licensed to Carbon Collect is an ASU innovation developed through Salt River Project sponsorship. ASU and Carbon Collect are partnered on research and commercialization of the Mechanical Tree design. On the lab scale, we can demonstrate that various sorbent varieties and regeneration techniques can increase the concentration of CO2 from the amount that is in ambient air, 400 parts per million (ppm), or 0.04%, to an enriched stream of up to five percent (then compressing to the desired end-use). This passive process does not blow air but relies on the wind. https://globalfutures.asu.edu/cnce/ CARBON COLLECT'S MECHANICAL TREE SELECTED FOR US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AWARD. Partnership receives $2.5 million grant for design of three 'carbon farms'. Arizona State University ASU News ASU News Carbon Collect’s MechanicalTree selected for US Department of Energy award Partnership receives $2.5 million grant for design of three 'carbon farms' July 2, 2021 A passive carbon-capture system, based on the research of Klaus Lackner, an engineering professor at Arizona State University and director of the ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, and commercialized by Carbon Collect Inc., based in Dublin, is among six projects being funded in a Department of Energy (DOE) program targeting carbon-capture and sequestration technologies. The DOE program is providing a total of $12 million to the six projects, with $2.5 million going to the Carbon Collect-ASU team. The projects are creating tools that will increase the amount of CO2 captured by direct air capture (DAC), decrease the cost of the materials used and improve the energy efficiency of the carbon-removal operations. https://news.asu.edu/20210702-carbon-collect-mechanicaltree-selected-us-department-energy-award