Transportation is responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Road vehicles, in particular, are a major source of CO2 emissions, which contribute to climate change.
In recent years, a number of technologies have been developed to capture and store CO2 (CCS) from vehicle emissions. However, these technologies are often expensive and complex, and are not always feasible for moving vehicles.
A team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a new method for capturing carbon emissions from moving vehicles that can capture and store 50% of CO2 emissions from trucks.
The method is based on a differential pressure adsorption system that uses an adsorbent material called zeolite. The adsorbent material is placed in a cartridge that is mounted in the vehicle's exhaust pipe.
As the vehicle moves, the exhaust gases pass through the cartridge. The CO2 adheres to the adsorbent material, while the other exhaust gases pass through the cartridge unaffected.
The cartridge is periodically discharged into a CO2 storage facility. CO2 can be stored in liquid or solid form, or injected underground.
The research team has tested the method on an 18-wheel diesel truck. The system was able to capture and store 50% of the truck's CO2 emissions.
The new method has a number of advantages over existing CCS technologies. It is more efficient and less expensive than afterburning capture systems, which require exhaust gases to be cooled and compressed before they can be captured.
Additionally, the system is more compact and lighter than precombustion capture systems, making it more suitable for installation in moving vehicles. The research team is working to improve the system's performance, and they hope to increase CO2 capture efficiency up to 70%.
The method is particularly promising for use in trucks, which are a major source of CO2 emissions. Diesel trucks are responsible for approximately 20% of transportation CO2 emissions in the United States and Europe.
The method could also be used in other road vehicles, such as buses and cars. However, it is probably not cost effective to install on these smaller vehicles.
This new method is still in the early stages of development. However, the research team is working to improve the system's performance and make it more cost-effective, and more easily scalable.
If the method is successful, it could become an important technology for reducing CO2 emissions from transportation. But of course, the new method still has some challenges it must overcome before it can be widely adopted.
One of the challenges is cost. The system is more expensive than existing CCS technologies. However, the research team hopes to reduce the cost of the system as it is developed.
Another challenge is efficiency. The system is currently slightly less efficient than existing CCS technologies, and the research team is working to improve the system's efficiency.
This new method of capturing carbon emissions from moving vehicles is a promising technology that has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from transportation, and could be yet another technology that helps in the fight against the Climate Crisis.
All contributions that reduce the pollution we generate through transport are welcome, although we must not forget that the ultimate objective is to have a totally sustainable transport system as soon as possible.
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