Carbon negative chemicals synthesis directly from the air

如果我们能直接从空气中提取碳或氮等化学成分，并使用可再生能源合成任何所需的化学物质，那会怎么样？这将使负碳化学工业能够在世界任何地方建立，为发展中经济体提供燃料、化肥和消费品等重要需求。该项目旨在证明一种重要的化学品，甲醇，可以只使用从空气中捕获的CO2和绿色氢，在温和的条件下，通过使用“双功能材料”。甲醇是碳负化学品合成的一个有吸引力的起点，因为它被视为一种可以在新的“甲醇经济”中取代石油的化学品。直接空气捕获（DAC）和负碳化学品合成是实现英国到2050年成为二氧化碳净零排放国的宏伟目标的关键创新。将DAC与化学品生产相结合构成了真正的循环经济风险，因为在下游加工和产品使用过程中释放的任何CO2都不会导致大气CO2的净增加。通过合成使用寿命长、在使用中不会完全燃烧的产品（例如耐用的建筑材料），一些二氧化碳将被封存在负碳产品中。在这个项目中，在从直接空气捕获的CO2中合成甲醇的概念证明之后，将开发一种结合计算和实验的方法，用于双功能材料的合理设计，以及用于确定导致最大CO2捕获和最小能量需求的最佳操作条件。

What if we could pull chemical building blocks such as carbon or nitrogen directly from the air and use renewable energy to synthesise any desired chemical? This would enable a carbon negative chemical industry to be established anywhere in the world, supplying vital needs for developing economies such as fuel, fertiliser and consumer products. This project seeks to demonstrate that an important chemical, methanol, can be produced using only CO2 captured from air and green hydrogen, under mild conditions by employing "dual function materials". Methanol is an attractive starting point for carbon negative chemicals synthesis because it is viewed as a chemical that can replace oil, in a new "methanol economy". Direct air capture (DAC) and carbon negative chemicals synthesis are key innovations to reach the UK's ambitious goal of becoming a net zero emitter of carbon dioxide by 2050. Coupling DAC with chemicals production constitutes a truly circular economic venture because any CO2 released during the downstream processing and use of products will not result in a net increase in atmospheric CO2. Through the synthesis of products with long lifetimes that do not get fully combusted in their use (e.g. durable materials of construction), some CO2 will be sequestered in carbon negative products. In this project, upon proof of concept for methanol synthesis from direct air captured CO2, a combined computational and experimental approach will be developed for rational design of dual function materials, as well as for identifying optimum operating conditions leading to maximum capture of CO2 and minimum energy requirement.