WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Close Are We to Recycling Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm Lauren voge O Bom and this is

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<v Speaker 1>another classic episode. This one originally aired in and it

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<v Speaker 1>concerns an area of technological development that is still in

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<v Speaker 1>development today, the capture of harmful carbon dioxide pollution to

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<v Speaker 1>turn into useful fuel. Hey, brain Stuff. Lauren Vogel bomb

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<v Speaker 1>here S fonte Arenas was a Swedish electrochemist who in

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<v Speaker 1>predicted that man made carbon dioxide emissions would dramatically transform

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<v Speaker 1>Earth's climate. You and I live in the future he

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<v Speaker 1>saw coming. So far, the twenty one century has witnessed

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen of the eighteen hottest years on record, and just

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<v Speaker 1>as Arena is suspected, the main cause of this warming

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<v Speaker 1>trend is all the CEO two we keep pumping into

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<v Speaker 1>the atmosphere. The scale of the problem is jaw dropping.

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<v Speaker 1>In the year seventeen alone, human beings un leased forty

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<v Speaker 1>point five billion tons about thirty six point eight billion

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<v Speaker 1>metric tons of this world altering greenhouse gas. Much of

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<v Speaker 1>the blame falls on our transportation infrastructure. Around twenty of

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<v Speaker 1>global CEO two emissions are made by cars, trucks, airplanes,

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<v Speaker 1>and other vehicles, though, just out of saying when cow

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<v Speaker 1>is another farm animals burper fart, they're contributing to climate

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<v Speaker 1>change too. The methane and livestocks belches and flatulence makes

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<v Speaker 1>up thirty of all agriculture related greenhouse gas emissions. But

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<v Speaker 1>back to carbon dioxide. Wouldn't it be nice if we

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<v Speaker 1>could pull CEO two out of thin air and incorporate

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<v Speaker 1>it into a new kind of vehicular fuel that's better

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<v Speaker 1>for the environment. We may be ready to start doing

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<v Speaker 1>just that. In June, the energy research journal Jewel published

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<v Speaker 1>a study led by Harvard professor David Keith, an experimental

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<v Speaker 1>physicist and public policy expert. Keith founded the company Carbon

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<v Speaker 1>Engineering in two thousand nine. The organization's mission is to

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<v Speaker 1>quote develop and commercial is technology that captures industrial scale

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<v Speaker 1>quantities of CO two directly from the air. With the

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<v Speaker 1>help of Bill Gates and other investors, Carbon Engineering was

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<v Speaker 1>able to open a nine million dollar direct air capture

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<v Speaker 1>plant in twenty Located in Squamish, British Columbia. The facility

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<v Speaker 1>uses large fans to pull outside air through filters coated

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<v Speaker 1>with liquid solution that traps carbon dioxide. Then the captured

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<v Speaker 1>gases converted into small pellets of calcium carbonate. Using these pellets,

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<v Speaker 1>carbon engineering has made synthetic gasoline, diesel, and even jet fuel.

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<v Speaker 1>The advantages of this air to fuel process are considerable.

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<v Speaker 1>Whereas naturally occurring fossil fuels are notoriously finite, these man

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<v Speaker 1>made liquids are renewable, and since they're produced with recycled

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<v Speaker 1>c O two, they don't contribute to mankind's carbon footprint. Plus,

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<v Speaker 1>our existing vehicles wouldn't need to be modified in any

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<v Speaker 1>way to start running on these synthetic fuels. Over in

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<v Speaker 1>Switzerland there's another carbon capture plant run by Climb Works,

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<v Speaker 1>a separate come any which now sells recycled CEO two.

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<v Speaker 1>But if this technology is going to make a significant

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<v Speaker 1>dent in our carbon emissions problem, will need a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of new plants. So how cost effective is that going

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<v Speaker 1>to be? Last year, m I T engineer Howard Herzog

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<v Speaker 1>estimated that it would cost an air capture facility a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars to generate a single U S ton that's

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<v Speaker 1>about point nine metric tons of usable carbon dioxide. Keith's

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<v Speaker 1>new paper begs to differ. According to his calculations, the

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<v Speaker 1>process costs a more reasonable ninety four dollars to two

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<v Speaker 1>and forty two dollars per U. S ton Keith said

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<v Speaker 1>in a press statement, we can confidently say that while

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<v Speaker 1>air capture is not some magical, cheap solution, it is

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<v Speaker 1>a viable and buildable technology for producing carbon neutral fuels

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<v Speaker 1>in the immediate future and for removing carbon in the

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<v Speaker 1>long run. Today's episode is based on the article carbon

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<v Speaker 1>Captured a fuel is Almost here on how stuffworks dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Mark Nancini. Brain Stuff is a production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio in partnership with has stuffworks dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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