Tag Archives: CO2

Pack Your Things, We are Going to Mars

Posted on October 23, 2017 by | 2 comments

Who said that we are going?

Around a year ago, the South African-born billionaire, Elon Musk, announced his plan for the colonilization of  Mars in a live video that went viral. Musk planned to land on Mars in the next decade and get it ready to host life by 2030. Since then, many have questioned the feasibility of the plan, including an esteemed astronaut who hypothesized that the project would stop as soon as Musk realizes the investment is not rewarding.

Are we even close?

According to researchers from the University of Lisbon and the University of Porto, we are. In their paper that was published on 18 October 2017, in the Journal Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vasco Guerra et al. argue that Mars has nearly ideal conditions for CO2 dissociation to O2 and CO in Plasmas. As a result, production of O2 in Mars from CO2, which constitutes 95.9% of the Martian atmosphere, is possible.

Wait…what?

This is an illustration of a plasma lamp. When current is passed through plasma, amazing colours are observed. Uploaded by Joshua_Willson to Pixabay.com April 26, 2017

Basically, plasma is a state of matter where positive gas ions are surrounded by free negatively charged electrons. It can have interesting applications, such as plasma lamps. This state does not necessarily require high temperaturet. For example, non equilibrium low temperature plasma is a very interesting field of study and it is the type that Guerro describes as “the best media for CO2 dissociation”. There are several studies about how plasma assists the dissociation of pure CO2 in the presence of a catalyst, usually TiO2. First, plasma supplies energy to drive the highly endothermic dissociation of CO2 through electron direct impact, in which an electron from the plasma transfers its energy to the CO2 molecule by collision, which aids the break of the C=O bond. Second, plasma adjusts the particles to the catalyst’s interface. Third, low temperature hinders the reverse reactions.

Why mars?

That is exactly Guerro’s argument. Guerro states that the atmospheric pressure of mars, 4.5 Torr, replaces the use of vacuum pumps that are necessary for the process on earth. Moreover, the average Martian atmospheric temperature, -63 oC, enhances the energy transfer from the plasma to the CO2. Also, Guerra mentions that the operation only requires as low as 20 W, which can be achieved on mars. Finally, the Martian atmosphere consists of 95.9% CO2, so O2 should be produced from this abundant source. Guerro says that the byproduct of this reaction, CO, can be used to fuel the return trip. In this way, the CO2 decomposition provides two benefits. Also, look at how beautiful it is:

An illustration of Mars, which is very beautiful. Uploaded by GooKingSword at pixabay.com

 

Personally, I used to think that if we can fix the atmosphere on Mars, then we should be able to fix it on Earth first. However, it turned out that Mars is helpful, but Earth is not. I started packing already…

By: Maged Hassan

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Beating Plants at Its Own Game

Posted on October 16, 2017 by | 2 comments

Photosynthesis, the ability to convert sunlight into energy, has always been known as the trademark for plants. With the treat of climate change and a shift away from fossil fuel energy, this often overlooked ability seem to be a perfect solution.

Photosynthesis in Nature (Sourced: Wiki Commons)

A group of researchers at UCLA has beaten plants at its own game of photosynthesis. They developed an artificial photosynthesis system that is more efficient that its nature counterpart. Photosynthesis is the simple process of using sunlight energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into chemical energy. In nature, the process of photosynthesis is not very efficient as it only convert approximately 1% of solar energy into usable chemical energy. The research utilized a hybrid system which was reported to be 10 times more efficient than plants.

Plants’ photosynthesis efficiency is mainly limited by the light absorbing pigments. However, solar panels that absorbs light much better has already been invented. The researchers designed a nano-wire coated with bacteria which collects sunlight similar to a solar panel and allows the bacteria to use the energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuel. The difficulty of previous attempts at imitating photosynthesis is the deaths of bacteria responsible for the conversion of light into chemical energy caused by a bacteria killing oxygen by-product. They developed a new catalyst to kick start the chemical reactions by the bacteria without killing them.

There is a video explaining the nano-wire research below:

YouTube Preview Image

This new system is estimated to be able to recycle carbon dioxide in 85,000 liters of air into fuel. The research also found by using a different bacteria, nitrogen gas can be converted into ammonia, a common ingredient in fertilizers. This research can change our approach on how to solve the energy crisis due to climate change.

Who could have known that such little plants could hold the key to solve such a big problem?

Written By: Harvey Wu

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Who Touched the Thermostat?

Posted on September 24, 2017 by | Leave a comment

“This cannot be correct; God has the thermostat of the earth” said my 80 years old grandmother, in her last attempt to challenge the scientific consensus that the earth’s climate system is warming. As youthful scientists with scientific mindsets, you probably find her argument ridiculous. However, her argument is not entirely false. The earth has a thermostat, the Weathering Thermostat.

A group of scientists in University College London found the first evidence for the planetary thermostat that controls the temperature of the earth. The lead author, Pogge Von Strandmann, describes this process as a mechanism that prevents the temperature of the earth from going crazy.

The process by-which the earth stabilizes its temperature is simple, and have been known for many years; it is called “Weathering”. In this process, rainwater dissolves CO2 from the atmosphere, and combines it with rocks to form bicarbonates. Later, the bicarbonates drift to the ocean, where they react with calcium to be trapped in the form of limestone. Therefore, this process reduces the concentration of CO2, and the climate system cools down. However, if this reaction is slowed down, the CO2 builds up in the atmosphere, traps the heat that is coming from the sun, and the climate system warms up.

Limestone formations in the Torcal de Antequera. Photographer: Juan Fernández Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanjaen/125055912/in/set-72057594101691764/

Still how does the weathering process control the temperature of the earth?

The weathering reaction is temperature dependent; the rate of the reaction increases as the temperature increases, using more CO2 from the atmosphere. But, at low temperatures, the reaction slows down to let the CO2 trap the heat coming from the sun.

If you already know this, you are probably yawning while thinking what is new?

This process had been hypothesized without real evidence. But according to the new study that was published in June 2017, in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters, authors have used Li isotopes to monitor the weathering process during the end of the glacial period. Their findings show a decline in the weathering of silicate rocks during the period when the climate system warmed and the ice age ended.

The team chose the Li isotopes because it is solely related to the weathering of silicate rocks. This enhances the certainty that the lowered concentration of Li isotopes in ocean limestone indicates the decline of the weathering of silicate rocks.

In conclusion, the earth had survived sever climate changes. However, fuel combustion, deforestation, and excessive use of pesticides introduce new challenges to the earth. In my opinion, as temperature rises, new natural reactions will be kinetically and thermodynamically afforded, and will reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, exactly as weathering does. On the other hand, in her BBC article, Vivien Cumming argues that by the end of this century temperature will rise 4 celsius degrees, a number that she considers to be insane. As a young scientist and an inhabitant of the earth, your opinion on this subject is very valuable…do you have one yet?

By: Maged Hassan

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