Researchers at West Virginia University have taken the first steps toward developing technology that can capture carbon dioxide in the air and use it for eco-friendly manufacturing of methanol.
Researchers at West Virginia University have taken the first steps toward developing technology that can capture carbon dioxide in the air and use it for eco-friendly manufacturing of methanol. The process they have begun modeling — which involves pulling air from buildings — could increase the sustainable supply of methanol, one of the world’s most extensively used raw materials, while removing a planet-warming greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
Project lead Xingbo Liu, who serves as professor, associate dean for research and chair of engineering at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, explained “methanol, or wood alcohol, has so many applications — it’s one of the most common chemicals in the world. It can be used by itself or as a feedstock for making other products, such as paint, primer or insulation.”
Methanol is typically produced from fossil fuels like shale gas, but Liu and his partners said they believe they have found a way to erase harmful emissions from the production process by harvesting the carbon needed to synthesize methanol from the air of buildings like large apartment or office complexes.
Read more at: West Virginia University
West Virginia University researchers, led by Xingbo Liu at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, are developing technology that harvests carbon from air that gets sucked out of buildings by heating and air conditioning systems. Their model leads to the manufacturing of carbon-neutral methanol. (Photo Credit: WVU Illustration/Savanna Leech_
