The Mobility Industry, Carbon Capture and Utilisation – making useful products from CO2
Please join this 2-hour session to hear from specialists within Mercedes-Benz, LanzaTech and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and take part in the discussion moderated by SVP Group CTO for Faurecia/FISITA VP Technical, Christophe Aufrere.
- Overview of CCU technologies
- How to produce alternative fuels from CO2
- How to produce nanofibers/polymers from CO2
- Q&A session for reflection and group discussion
Environmental aspects are becoming a major focus globally to avoid dramatic consequences for the life on the planet. One of the most important topics is global warming which has accelerated during the last 70 years due to anthropogenic activities. One of the greenhouse gases is CO2 which is now in the atmosphere at a level of more than 400ppm whereas it was around 270 before the era of industrialization. But banning CO2 completely is not a solution as it is needed for life on earth, such as in photosynthesis of the plants which make life possible. CO2 can also be a useful raw material to produce valuable molecules for different kinds of applications but first it has to be captured.
Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is the process of capturing CO2 to be recycled for further usage. CCU aims to convert the captured carbon dioxide into more valuable substances or products such as plastics, concrete or biofuel while retaining the carbon neutrality of the production processes.
This has several potential applications in the mobility industry. For instance, research has been done where CO2 from the air has been directly converted into methanol at relatively low temperatures. As a clean-burning fuel for internal combustion or a fuel for fuel cells this could be a useful alternative to fossil fuels.
Another team has developed a technology to economically convert atmospheric CO2 directly into valued carbon nanofibers for industrial and consumer products, which of course have multiple applications.However, the major challenge to overcome with any of these technologies is the cost involved, the life cycle assessment and the energy requirement. Join this session to learn and debate more about these technologies and their potential automotive applications.
STA members are entitled to join for the price of £20 (50% discount)
