Renewables

All-in-one solution tackles carbon capture, green hydrogen and building materials

Published by

Queensland researchers have developed new all-in-one chemical processes that could provide a pathway to carbon storage, green hydrogen production and the creation of materials needed by the construction industry, detailing a proof-of-concept demonstration in a new research paper.

The research, undertaken by scientists at the Queensland University of Technology, has been published in the journal ChemSusChem, detailing a chemical process that provides the potential for carbon storage and the production of both green hydrogen and key inputs into cement manufacture.

An innovative chemical process has been developed by PhD researcher Olawale Oloye and Professor Anthony O’Mullane from the QUT Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices.

The complete process has the ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing it as calcium carbonate, a useful building material.

The process requires carbon dioxide and oxygen inputs, which are combined in water to produce carbonate ions (CO32-) through a process that involves the electrolysis of water. This electrolysis has the ability to be powered by renewable electricity sources like wind and solar electricity.

The CO3 is combined with calcium added to the water to produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3), storing the original carbon dioxide into a useful material, and the electrolysis process produces hydrogen as an additional by-product, providing a potential supply of the renewable fuel.

Calcium carbonate itself is an important ingredient in the production of cement, and the process could be used to produce many other materials useful for industrial processes, including strontium carbonate and manganese carbonate.

“This process involves the capture of CO2 by its reaction with an alkaline solution produced on demand, to form solid carbonate products which can be used, for example, as construction materials, thereby keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere,” QUT professor Anthony O’Mullane said.

“This can be done using a simple calcium source in water. To further improve efficiency, we added a low-toxicity, biodegradable chemical called MEA [monoethanolamine] to increase the amount of CO2 drawn out of the atmosphere and into the water.”

“Given that urbanization is expected to grow over the next 50–100 years, the demand for cement and concrete will continue to increase and with it the need to significantly reduce the industry’s CO2 footprint if the world is to meet its emission reduction targets.”

The production of cement is a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the production of the building material accounting for around 7 per cent of global emissions.

“We envision this technology would benefit emission-intensive industries such as the cement industry whose CO2 footprint is 7 to 10 per cent of anthropogenic CO2 emissions due to the initial clinking (heating) step that converts CaCO3 into CaO (lime) with the emission of large amounts of CO2,” O’Mullane said.

“By coupling the mineralization process to produce CaCO3 from the emitted CO2 during the clinking step we could create a closed loop system and reduce a significant percentage of the CO2 involved in cement production.”

One additional benefit of the new technique is the ability to use seawater rather than being reliant on supplies of fresh water, avoiding adding additional pressures on an otherwise scarce resource.

“We found we could use seawater once it had been treated to remove sulphates. To do this we first precipitated calcium sulphate or gypsum, another building material, and then carried out the same process to successfully turn CO2 into calcium carbonate, thus providing proof of concept of a circular carbon economy,” O’Mullane added.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation recently tipped $95 million into the development of a ‘green’ logistics precinct in Perth, which will use a source of low-carbon cement in the construction of a major new industrial hub in an effort to reduce its embedded emissions.

Michael Mazengarb is a Sydney-based reporter with RenewEconomy, writing on climate change, clean energy, electric vehicles and politics. Before joining RenewEconomy, Michael worked in climate and energy policy for more than a decade.
Michael Mazengarb

Michael Mazengarb is a Sydney-based reporter with RenewEconomy, writing on climate change, clean energy, electric vehicles and politics. Before joining RenewEconomy, Michael worked in climate and energy policy for more than a decade.

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

Could $1 billion actually bring solar manufacturing back to Australia? It’s worth a shot

By 2050, solar should provide most of our electricity – but only if we have enough…

28 March 2024

Hydro Tasmania on the hunt for a new CEO amid political and renewable turmoil

Tasmanian utility begins hunt for new CEO, following the news that current chief will step…

28 March 2024

Capacity Investment Scheme needs to set high bar for communities hosting renewables

Without exception, the CIS should encourage projects that do good community engagement, with good environmental…

28 March 2024

Australia’s biggest coal generator teams up with SunDrive to make solar at Liddell

AGL signs MoU with Cannon-Brookes backed PV innovator SunDrive to explore "first of its kind"…

28 March 2024

Solar ducks and big batteries: How Alice Springs grid could run five hours a day with no fossil fuels

Alice Springs may be able to run on 100 pct renewables for an average five…

28 March 2024

“Unconscionable:” Eraring delay could cost $150m a year, adding to massive Origin windfall, report says

New analysis says the potential taxpayer cost of keeping Eraring open for another few years…

28 March 2024