Climate Change: New Tech

Two fascinating speakers were on Science Friday yesterday, often my favorite show of the week.

Klaus Lackner, professor of chemistry and Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, The Earth Institute of Columbia University says there are proven ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Just as there are scrubbers to strip pollutants such as sulfur from smokestack emissions, carbon dioxide scrubbers can be built to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and help combat global climate change.

Jerry Woodall, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University says that an aluminum alloy could be used to produce hydrogen from water where it is needed, potentially making fuel cell vehicles more practical. This discussion was sketchier than the Lackner CO2 talk but Woodall is saying that pellets of an aluminum alloy could be dropped into tanks filled with water, to create Hydrogen on the spot for combustion and leaving a solid, storable, re-cyclable waste in its place.

Both discussions are available as audio here. (Upper right corner of screen.)

[The first discussion of the hour was about breast cancer research, which I didn’t hear, though I’m sure it’s worthwhile as well.]

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