Carbon dioxide-eating enzyme could fight global warming
Carbon dioxide-eating enzyme could fight global warming
mongabay.com
August 9, 2006
A new technology could help fight climate change by letting carbon-dioxide enzymes do the work.
According to Mark Wendman of the UK-based Inquirer a Canadian firm has licensed production rights to an enzyme that scrubs carbon dioxide from smokestacks and other concentrated sources. The byproducts from the CO2 scrubbing process are carbonate and hydrogen gas, which in itself could serve as a fuel source. The technology was developed from an enzyme that enables animals to remove carbon dioxide from their blood during the process of respiration.
Wendman says the technology could be used to help fight the buildup of carbon dioxide — an important greenhouse gas blamed for rising global temperatures — in the atmosphere.
Researchers say that carbon dioxide capturing technologies will be a key component in mitigating climate change. Yesterday, scientists at MIT released a paper suggesting that carbon dioxide injection strategies could store large amounts of the gas in deep-sea sediments.
PDF from CO2 Solution, the firm that is developing the technology in partnership with a team from the University of Laval in Quebec City.
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