A New Way to Clean up Air Pollution

Carbon capture — commonly thought of as the use of technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air — is a hotly debated topic.

Though the U.S. Department of Energy committed $131 million to various carbon capture projects, opponents claim that focus on carbon capture distracts from other, more effective strategies for combating our warming planet.

Now, an MIT research team may have found a way to make everybody happy: by removing carbon dioxide from the world’s oceans.

In a paper published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, six MIT engineers have detailed a comprehensive plan for cleansing seawater of carbon dioxide.

The process utilizes two asymmetrical electrochemical cells consisting of silver and bismuth electrodes. The first cell releases protons into the water that converts to carbon dioxide that is then collected by a vacuum. The second cell then returns the seawater to a more basic state before releasing it back into the ocean, free from carbon dioxide.  READ MORE...