Carbon Dioxide

A technique originally developed to combat acid rain has the potential to pull an enormous amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – while helping to deacidify oceans, restore rivers and boost biodiversity and fish populations.

Back in 2021, researchers came up with a recipe for greener concrete that had building waste and CO2 among its ingredients. Now the same team has used rubble from a demolished school and the greenhouse gas to produce bricks to build new structures.

Tulip trees have been around for millions of years, but a new analysis of their structure has revealed a previously unknown type of wood. The finding could explain why the trees are great at sequestering carbon and help our efforts to do the same.

A new solution from Cambridge University could recycle both concrete and steel at the same time, by throwing old concrete into steel-recycling furnaces. If done using renewable energy, the process could make for completely carbon-zero cement.

Carbon dioxide is key to how long airborne viruses hang around in the air and, therefore, their likelihood of spreading. Opening a window may be a more scientific way to avoid the spread of respiratory viruses than first anticipated.

The world’s largest ocean-based carbon dioxide removal plant is being built in Singapore, and will be capable of capturing 8 million lb of CO2 per year while also producing 231,000 lb of carbon-negative hydrogen.

Geologists have shed new light on Earth's built-in thermostat. They say shifting tectonic plates that slowed volcanic activity is likely what caused the extreme ice age that turned the planet into a giant snowball over 700 million years ago.

The industrial sector is responsible for about 25% of global CO2 emissions – or about 9.3 billion metric tonnes per year and growing. But a team at the University of Leeds says we don't need to wait for magical new tech to clean most of it up.

In an effort to mitigate human-caused climate warming, scientists are focused on ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One of the more novel ways to do this has just been announced by scientists employing a smart dual-method process.

Scientists have developed a synthetic pathway that can capture CO2 from the air more efficiently than in nature, and shown how to implement it into living bacteria. The technique could help make biofuels and other products in a sustainable way.

With complex ecological modeling, scientists have found that plants may be soaking up 20% more CO2 than earlier predicted. It's no "get-out-of-jail-free card," but it highlights the crucial role nature needs to play as we try to stem global warming.

Steam turbines still produce most of the world's power, but supercritical CO2 promises to be much cheaper, and 10% more efficient as a medium than water, using 10X smaller turbines. A US$155-million pilot plant is now complete in San Antonio.