A2F, Air To FuelsTM, is a process which captures CO2 from the atmosphere and combines it with hydrogen, which is separated from water using solar and / or wind generated electricity, to manufacture gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. The capture of CO2 from the air and the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen are technologies that have been around for a very long time. Combining the two processes into a fuel generating system has been the quest of a company established at the University of Calgary in 2009.
In making the removal of carbon from air a realistic option, to meet the goals of the Paris Accord which limits atmospheric CO2 to 450 ppm or less, not only do we have to revert to alternate energy forms to power civilization, such as nuclear, wind, solar, and water generated renewables, but humanity will have to actively work at lowering the carbon levels as this transition proceeds.
Currently, carbon harvesting from the atmosphere, a process known as direct air capture or DAC, costs over $US 600 per ton. Since 2015 their DAC pilot plant in Squamish BC has been capturing CO2 at the rate of 1 ton each day. Two years of development has proven their DAC system can pull carbon from the air at under $US100 per ton.
In 2017, the plant incorporated the fuel synthesis module which can yield a barrel of fuel each day. The prototype is designed to identify the ultimate price of commercialization and the cost of a litre of fuel.
Their analysis of the data procured operating the Air To FuelTM technologies, indicates the production of liquid fuels at under a $1 per litre. What this innovative company has done, is find a way of reducing the cost with proven and existing commercial processes to create “blue” fuel from air in a clean liquid form.
Carbon Engineering, CE, has some serious backers. Western Canadian and owner of the Calgary Flames, N. Murray Edwards, along with Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, teamed up with Professor David Keith and his research groups from the U of C and Carnegie Mellon University, to find a way to commercialize carbon capture.
Producing fuels from the air “profitably” ensures tax payers will not be on the hook for funding inefficient government corporations. Successful businesses have to be based on a foundation of efficiency to stay viable for long term operation. Longevity is a requirement extremely necessary for mitigating the environmental consequences of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Fuels produced by recycling carbon allow current modes of transportation to use the petrol they were designed for without increasing atmospheric CO2. DAC also allows for lowering atmospheric carbon as the process turns CO2 into a carbonate which permits not only for its conversion to fuels, but as building materials such as cement, or the production of plastics.
Recycling and permanently sequestering carbon dioxide will eventually have a “net negative” effect as increasing numbers of economically viable installations come on stream. In conjunction with the adoption of electric vehicles, wind, solar energy and nuclear, the world has a chance to meet the Paris accord goals and timeline.
Lorne Oja can be reached at lorne@solartechnical.ca