Sequestering captured carbon is the fossil fuel industry’s answer to having its cake and eating it too. Harvesting the coal, oil, and gas stored by nature hundreds of millions of years ago is the raison d’etre of fossil fuel operations. The gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and other polluting gasses these operators produce directly and indirectly (when their products are burned by consumers) can now be remedied by capturing the polluting emissions along the way. This can be done by adding technology to existing extraction and production processes. Or it can be done after the emissions have entered the atmosphere through direct air capture. These technological solutions come with a steep price tag which with few exceptions, producers have been unwilling to pay without governments providing substantial financial support.

A new invention developed by chemical engineers at the University of Delaware is a new design for a fuel cell that can be used to capture up to 99% of CO2 in ambient air.