STEPforGGR · Solar up-draft tower to enable atmospheric photocatalysis for non-CO2 greenhouse gases removal: an emerging negative emission technology

Solar up-draft tower to enable atmospheric photocatalysis for non-CO2 greenhouse gases removal: an emerging negative emission technology

What is the problem/issue being addressed? To date little attention has been given to the removal of atmospheric non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs). Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a measure of the potency of a GHG and many non-CO2 atmospheric gases have a high GWP. The three most important (methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and dichloro-difluoromethane (CCl2F2 – also known as CFC-12) - collectively HiGWPGs (high GWP gases)) represent almost 30% of radiative forcing (RF) of the long-lived (lifetimes ≥ 10 years) GHGs. Whereas the removal of atmospheric CO2 could lead to significant re-emission from the ocean, this is likely to be less significant for atmospheric HiGWPGs given their relatively small presence in the ocean. HiGWPGs can be eliminated by photocatalysis (PC) transforming them into benign atmospheric gases, water vapour and small amounts of volatile compounds, all of which would be much less potent GHGs than their precursors. These photocatalytic processes enable us to harness sunlight to promote the destruction of CH4, N2O and the fluorocarbon and have been proved very effective at lab scale. This project aims to develop these processes at much larger scale as greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies, so that they can be applied to tackle real life climate crisis. Why is it important for society? Global climate policy is a three-legged stool requiring the simultaneous reduction of dependence on fossil fuel, increase in dependence on GHG-neutral fuels, and GGR to bridge the gap between the other two. If any of these legs falls short, climate policy will not be compatible with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) intention of 'holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ºC above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels'. What are the overall objectives? This project has five overarching research objectives (ROs): RO1 To identify rate limiting step(s) among mass transfer and reaction processes. (RQ1) RO2 To enhance mass transfer, maximise photon utilisation and optimise reaction zones. (RQ1) RO3 To develop monolithic photoreactor integrated with artificial light sources for night operation strategies. (RQ1) RO4 To evaluate scalability of systems based on required space/land and cost; (RQ2) RO5 To assess sustainability of the process including test of catalyst durability and environmental impact of degraded products. (RQ3) Moreover, STEPforGGR has been purposely designed to target three additional knowledge transfer objectives (KTOs): KTO1 To fully embrace public engagement. KTO2 Organise and deliver a series of workshops, training schools, and secondments. KTO3 To develop and strengthen research and innovation partnerships.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз