“Long-duration” means the amount of time a power system can discharge electricity (this is different from long-term storage, i.e. the amount of time a system can store energy before discharging it). As Maria Chavez at UCS explains, it’s vital to the success of intermittent wind and solar roll-out which needs to store its excess generation for when it’s needed. And as electrification grows it will provide greater grid flexibility and resilience … [Read more...]
Electrochemical CO2 removal: efficient, cheaper, first industrial client
Leda Zimmerman at MIT describes a method of removing CO2 electrochemically, now being taken forward by MIT spin-off company Verdox. Electrodes are coated with polyanthraquinone. When it is charged, CO2 sticks to it. When it’s time to store it away, the charge is reversed and the gas is expelled as a pure stream of CO2. The technology works in a wide range of CO2 concentrations, from the 20% or higher found in cement and steel industry exhaust … [Read more...]
Converting captured CO2 directly into fuels could get simpler, cheaper
Converting captured CO2 directly into fuels (or other products) at scale seems an effective way to mitigate emissions. But most of the conversion methods, including electrochemical, thermocatalytic, photothermal, or photochemical processes, have not proved very effective. David Chandler at MIT describes how researchers there have identified the main stumbling block and found a very simple solution. Basically, at the molecular level, the contact … [Read more...]
