Charlie Buttrey

October 27, 2024

The scientific consensus is that it’s unlikely that humankind can prevent the worst events of climate change without removing some of the excess carbon that’s already in the atmosphere. To date, some small steps have been taken in that regard: for instance, at the Climeworks plant in Iceland, the world’s largest “direct air capture” device is storing 4,000 metric tons of atmospheric CO2 underground every year.

We may be about to take a giant leap forward.

UC Berkeley recently announced that students there have created a yellow powder, half a pound of which can absorb the same amount of CO2 as a mature oak tree. The powder, called COF-999, was engineered using non-exotic materials to be extremely porous and durable. It’s effectively a cross between a cross between an air filter and a sponge.

Made by some of the strongest chemical bonds, like those that hold diamond crystals together, COF-999 appears, under a microscope, to be filled with channels. Within these channels and attached to these strong bonds are compounds called amines that grab hold of passing carbon dioxide molecules as air moves through and against them.

There are enough amines in just half a pound of this powder to soak up 88 pounds of CO2, about the same as a large tree does by the time it reaches maturity. Compared to synthetic materials used for direct air capture, it captures carbon about 10 times faster as well. Once absorbed, if the powder is heated to 140°F, all the CO2 is released. And this “absorb and release” process can be repeated hundreds of times (like squeezing out a sponge), only the carbon can be sequestered so that it doesn’t reenter the atmosphere.

At the moment, the major hurdle to overcome is how to position the powder in the open air, in a manufacturing or power plant that can deposit the carbon in a solid material, without it blowing away in the wind. Its inventors believe that the powder will be ready for commercial scale within two years.

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