Landmark London conference to discuss ‘revolutionary’ air capture technology
capture technology, which scrubs carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air,
has the potential to become a ‘game-changer’ in the battle against
climate change, and British engineers are at the forefront of making it a
reality, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said today.
technology will be the subject of a conference – the first of its kind –
to be held at the Institution’s London headquarters on Tuesday 16
Development of the technology has accelerated over the
past few years, and one small British firm has become the first company
in the world to demonstrate CO2 air capture as a viable industrial
prospect. Air Fuel Synthesis (AFS), based in Stockton-on-Tees, is using
air capture to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity.
AFS recently created its first litres of fuel at the company’s Stockton demonstrator plant. The process works as follows:
is blown into a tower containing a mist of sodium hydroxide which
reacts with the carbon dioxide in the air, forming sodium carbonate.
Electricity is then passed through the sodium carbonate to release the
carbon dioxide, which is stored.
- A dehumidifier in the tower
condenses water from the air. The water is then split into hydrogen and
oxygen using an electric current.
- The carbon dioxide and hydrogen are reacted together to create Syngas, which is then processed to form methanol.
- The methanol is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol.
The fuel produced can be used in any regular petrol tank and, if
renewable energy is used to provide the electricity, the process and end
product are completely carbon neutral.
This clean fuel is
a direct drop-in replacement fuel for existing vehicles and
infrastructure. It can also be used to store intermittent ‘wrong-time’
or stranded ‘wrong-place’ energy from renewable sources and has many
advantages over biofuels when blended with conventional petrol – a
feature that has already attracted the attention of the motorsport
Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy & Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:
capture technology ultimately has the potential to become a
game-changer in our quest to avoid dangerous climate change. What was
just a smart idea in the minds of a handful of academics a few years ago
is now a proven, engineered method for removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and making a useful product. The beauty of petrol from air
is that you are effectively recycling CO2 and avoiding further transport
“While the major recent research advances have
largely been made in the US and Canada, it is hugely encouraging that it
is British engineers and entrepreneurs who are taking air capture
technology out of the lab and using it to create a product. This is
particularly poignant given that so much of the world’s fossil
fuel-based industrial economy of today has its origins in great British
engineering innovation from the North East.
“What we need
now is the financial and political support to help turn this
revolutionary demonstration into a large-scale industrial solution that
could make sustainable products, remove and store CO2 from point sources
or the atmosphere and set the international carbon price to drive
innovation across all clean technologies.”
David Still, Chairman of Air Fuel Synthesis, said:
are now ready to build the first commercial Air Fuel Synthesis
production plant making carbon-neutral petrol. The technology can add
to new or existing renewable energy projects, especially where the
energy is stranded; where there is a premium for secure liquid fuels
for existing vehicles; or for reducing carbon emissions. Demand for
specialist high quality low-carbon fuels in motorsports offers a
particularly attractive early niche market for investors.
investors and partners will enable us to rapidly commercialise our
technologies and help customers address fossil oil price volatility
and supply constraints as well as the implications of carbon-driven
Tuesday’s conference, Air Capture:
Developing Technologies for Carbon Recycling and Negative Emissions will
feature a presentation by Peter Harrison, CEO of Air Fuel Synthesis as
well as presentations from some of the world’s leading specialists in
air capture technology. Highlights include:
Keynote presentation: Energy security, economic development and global
warming: addressing short and long term challenges
Professor Graciela Chichilnisky, Co-founder and Managing Director, Global Thermostat
- 10.20am: Outdoor prototype results for direct atmospheric capture of carbon dioxide
Mr Geoffrey Holmes, Research Scientist, Carbon Engineering Ltd (CE)
- 10.45am: Lessons learned on the journey from CO2 to aviation fuel
Peter Harrison, CEO, Air Fuel Synthesis Ltd
- 3.30pm: CO2 irrigation : improving the water use efficiency of biomass production by using dilute CO2
Mr Tim Kruger, James Martin Fellow, Oxford Geoengineering Programme, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
- 3.55pm: Biomass-enhanced CCS: a scalable solution to capture CO2 from the atmosphere
Dr Paul Fennell, Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London