Researchers have used liquid metals to turn carbon dioxide back into solid coal, in a world-first breakthrough that could transform our approach to carbon capture and storage.
The research team led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new technique that can efficiently convert CO2 from a gas into solid particles of carbon.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the research offers an alternative pathway for safely and permanently removing the greenhouse gas from our atmosphere.
Current technologies for carbon capture and storage focus on compressing CO2 into a liquid form, transporting it to a suitable site and injecting it underground.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Thursday February 28 2019, @04:49PM
Tepco ((in-)famous for the Fukushima nuclear plant) was working on Sodium-Sulphur batteries [wikipedia.org] for grid storage.
Then at least the electrolyte materials are a lot cheaper and more abundant than Lithium.
Disadvantage is that it needs to operate at elevated temperatures (to melt the Sodium), and that it's of course quite .. reactive .. so you wouldn't want too much of it in 1 location because terrorists.