Carbon News
  • Members
    • Login
      Forgot Password?
    • Not a member? Subscribe
    • Forgot Password
      Back to Login
    • Not a member? Subscribe
  • Home
  • New Zealand
    • Politics
    • Energy
    • Agriculture
    • Carbon emissions
    • Transport
    • Forestry
    • Business
  • Markets
    • Analysis
    • NZ carbon price
  • International
    • Australia
    • United States
    • China
    • Europe
    • United Kingdom
    • Canada
    • Asia
    • Pacific
    • Antarctic/Arctic
    • Africa
    • South America
    • United Nations
  • News Direct
    • Media releases
    • Climate calendar
  • About Carbon News
    • Contact us
    • Advertising
    • Subscribe
    • Service
    • Policies

Researchers test new way to remove carbon dioxide from air

29 Jul 2024


Media release | A new method to pump carbon dioxide out of the air has been developed by scientists from the UK and New Zealand.

More than 35 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main contributor to climate change, are released into the  atmosphere each year. Scientists investigating ways to “capture” some of this gas have landed on a new method that they believe could see CO2 extracted from the air and potentially reused in carbon-neutral manufacturing processes.

 

Professor Patricia Hunt, from the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences and an associate investigator at the  MacDiarmid Institute, says extracting CO2 from the air is a “challenging” puzzle to solve.

“Some CO2 can be captured at source—for example, from the smokestacks of factories and power plants that burn fossil fuels. However, once CO2 is in the atmosphere it’s significantly harder to extract.

“The first problem is that air is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, and we need to select and then capture CO2 , which is only present in tiny amounts—about 0.04 percent. The next step is concentrating the CO2 , which requires significant energy,” she says.

Professor Hunt and researchers from the UK have hit on an approach that doesn’t require huge amounts of energy.

They developed and tested a CO2 -permeable synthetic membrane, a bit like a high-tech filter. The membrane system was designed to “hijack” the energy generated by differences in humidity between dry air on one side of the membrane and wet (humid) air—made wet by the introduction of water—on the other side, she explains.

In the lab, the researchers were able to exploit this energy to pump CO2 out of the air, avoiding the need for an external energy source.

“If we think of a hydropower station, we know that water flowing downhill produces energy. In the membrane system we developed, water flowing downwards was used to power the capture of CO2, allowing it to be concentrated so it could be reused or stored.

“For each water molecule going downhill inside the membrane, one CO2 molecule was stored. This gave us a hint that the two processes were connected. Using computer modelling, we were then able to look at things on a molecular level to pinpoint what was happening.”

Co-researcher Dr Greg Mutch, from the UK’s Newcastle University, compared the process to a waterwheel on a flour mill: “Whereas a mill uses the downhill transport of water to drive milling, we use it to pump carbon dioxide out of the air.”

Luckily, the researchers didn’t have to construct a flour mill. Their experiments were done in an alumina membrane reactor—a device used to separate different chemicals. Outside the lab, membrane reactors are a common way of treating wastewater by filtering out contaminants. Professor Hunt says the membrane they used looks a bit like a pencil-sized water filter cartridge—one where the CO2 needs a water molecule and an energy “push” to help it pass through.

“Our research has shown that a membrane system can remove CO2 from the air, without the need for a large external energy source. This technology could play a part in the huge task of tackling carbon emissions, but more work will be needed to develop and test its application beyond the lab,” she said.

 

Results of the research, led by Professor Ian Metcalfe from Newcastle University, are published in Nature Energy.

Researchers from the University of Strathclyde, University College London, University of Oxford, and Imperial College London were also involved in the work.

print this story


Related Topics:   Science

More >
Media releases
More >

Government agency warns controversial bill could delay disaster response

Fri 18 Jul 2025

Media release – Greenpeace | As the cleanup begins in flood-hit Tasman, fresh documents reveal a stark warning from Land Information New Zealand that the Regulatory Standards Bill could hinder the country’s ability to respond to climate-related disasters.

Communities can’t foot the bill for climate crisis

Thu 17 Jul 2025

Media release - Te Pāti Māori O Aotearoa | Te Pāti Māori sends aroha to whānau, and communities impacted by the recent severe weather across Nelson Tasman, Banks Peninsula, Northland and beyond.

Antarctica Scholarships 2025: Ocean detectives

Thu 17 Jul 2025

Media release – Antarctica New Zealand | Antarctica’s Southern Ocean is full of unanswered questions, and this year’s Antarctica New Zealand scholarship recipients are on a mission to help solve them.

More choices for how we use, buy and sell electricity – and lower our power bills

Wed 16 Jul 2025

Media release – Electricity Authority | New Zealanders will have more choices for how they use, buy and sell electricity – so they can lower their power bills – because of new market rules confirmed today by the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (the Authority).

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones

Feedback sought on national fuel security plan

Wed 16 Jul 2025

Media release - Beehive: The Coalition Government is seeking feedback on a draft Fuel Security Plan that provides a long-term strategy to ensure New Zealanders have reliable access to fuel in times of domestic and global disruption, Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones says.

Professor David Frame of the University of Canterbury

Extreme global weather events show urgent need for collective effort ahead of world’s premier climate adaptation event

Tue 15 Jul 2025

As the Northern Hemisphere experiences another major heatwave, and other parts of the world grapple with extreme weather events, experts are calling for the urgent acceleration of adaptation efforts to help manage the life-threatening impacts of a rapidly changing climate.

Councils need more clarity around climate adaptation

Mon 14 Jul 2025

Media release - Local Government NZ | LGNZ says a lack of clarity around who pays for climate adaptation puts ratepayers at risk of footing the bill – which many could not afford.

Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure

9 Jul 2025

Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.

Unlocking economic growth on conservation land

9 Jul 2025

Media release - New Zealand Government | A targeted effort to reduce the backlog of applications for use of conservation land is accelerating economic growth without compromising conservation values, says Conservation Minister Tama Potaka.

High Court agrees with Environmental Defence Society - law must be followed as it stands now

7 Jul 2025

Media release – Environmental Defence Society | The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) welcomes the High Court’s finding in Box Property Investments Ltd v The Expert Consenting Panel that decisions must be made based on the law as it currently stands, not on potential future legislative changes.

Carbon News

Subscriptions, Advertising & General

[email protected]

Editorial

[email protected]

We welcome comments, news tips and suggestions - please also use this address to submit all media releases for News Direct).

Useful Links
Home About Carbon News Contact us Advertising Subscribe Service Policies
New Zealand
Politics Energy Agriculture Carbon emissions Transport Forestry Business
International
Australia United States China Europe United Kingdom Canada Asia Pacific Antarctic/Arctic Africa South America United Nations
Home
Markets
Analysis NZ carbon price
News Direct
Media releases Climate calendar

© 2008-2025 Carbon News. All Rights Reserved. • Your IP Address: 18.97.9.174 • User account: Sign In

Please wait...
Audit log: