Natural means to reduce carbon dioxide

2000/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena

Thanks to an initiative promoted by the U.S. Department of Energy, a group of scientists at the University of Ohio is developing a new technique that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using algae. Algae, like other plants, perform photosynthesis when they receive solar energy and, through chemical reactions, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and emit oxygen. According to scientists, the use of this phenomenon can reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Thus, the Ohio team of researchers has developed an emission system that uses natural algae to reduce CO2 emissions in thermal power plants. Before putting the CO2 in the air, they mix it with water, so that CO2 becomes bicarbonate and stays in the water. This water is passed through tubes full of algae that by photosynthesis absorb the bicarbonates present in the water.