Researchers at McGill University have developed a method to enhance the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, leveraging waste from pulp and paper production, and utilizing the Canadian Light Source. This technique not only cuts the energy needed for carbon conversion but also diminishes waste, marking a significant step in combining biomass recycling with CO2 capture to combat climate change and make CO2 conversion more efficient and economically viable.
Scientists at McGill University have developed a novel method to enhance the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, utilizing waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they’ve pioneered using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan not only reduces the energy required to convert carbon into useful products, but also reduces overall waste in the environment.
“We are one of the first groups to combine biomass recycling or utilization with CO2 capture,” said Ali Seifitokaldani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Electrocatalysis for Renewable Energy Production and Conversion. The research team, from McGill’s Electrocatalysis Lab, published their findings in the journal RSC Sustainability.
Capturing carbon emissions is one of the most exciting emerging tools to fight climate change. The biggest challenge is figuring out what to do with the carbon once the emissions have been removed, especially since capturing CO2 can be expensive. The next hurdle is that transforming CO2 into useful products takes energy. Researchers want to make the conversion process as efficient and profitable as possible.
Reference: “Efficient integration of carbon dioxide reduction and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation at high current density” by Roger Lin, Haoyan Yang, Hanyu Zheng, Mahdi Salehi, Amirhossein Farzi, Poojan Patel, Xiao Wang, Jiaxun Guo, Kefang Liu, Zhengyuan Gao, Xiaojia Li and Ali Seifitokaldani, 13 December 2023, RSC Sustainability.
DOI: 10.1039/D3SU00379E
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