The Japanese Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) in Kyoto prefecture has embarked on an innovative program to develop more cost-effective methods for capturing carbon dioxide.
Their Cost Saving CO2 Capture System (COCS), sponsored by the Chemical Research Group, aims to develop novel absorbents that will capture CO2 economically from mixed-gas streams. Their pilot program will capture CO2 from the effluent of a steel plant. It will also use the waste heat from the steel plant to regenerate the absorbent.
This is one of the most systematic approaches I've seen to date to tackling the key problem of carbon dioxide capture. They've honed in on the key component that makes carbon capture uneconomical: the actual capture mechanism. As they point out, this makes up about 70% of the cost of Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS).
Note that RITE is also working on the other important component of CCS: geological CO2 sequestration.
Posted by todd at December 12, 2007 06:56 PM