Three UK universities have been awarded funding to research into new ways to convert carbon emissions into useful products including new fuels.
The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded £1.4 million to the University of Bath, the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England to research nanotechnology methods which might allow carbon to be turned from a pollutant into new products such as fuels for cars or even plastics.
Researchers at the universities will collaborate to develop porous materials which could be used to line factory chimneys to take carbon dioxide pollutants from the air, reducing the effects of climate change. The process would be powered by renewable solar energy and would allow sufficient carbon to be stored to lock it into useful products such as polymers, carbohydrates and even fuels for cars.
Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos from Bristol University’s Robotics Laboratory, said: “One of the great advantages of this project is that it will attempt to exploit the natural abilities of photo-heterotrophic microorganisms in utilising light to fix CO2, which in turn will allow the production of biomass to be used as fuel and electricity or hydrogen, as required.”
Dr Petra Cameron, RCUK Fellow from the Department of Chemistry at Bath, said: "We hope that the use of renewable energy to recycle CO2 will be an effective way to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.”
