System and Method for Removing Carbon Dioxide From an Atmosphere and Global Thermostat Using the Same

Abstract

A system for removing carbon dioxide from an atmosphere to reduce global warming including an air extraction system that collects carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a medium and removes carbon dioxide from the medium; a sequestration system that isolates the removed carbon dioxide to a location for at least one of storage and which can increase availability of renewable energy or non-fuel products such as fertilizers and construction materials; and one or more energy sources that supply process heat to the air extraction system to remove the carbon dioxide from the medium and which can regenerate it for continued use.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS / CLAIM OF PRIORITY[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority from, each of the following US patent applications: (a) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 825,468 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.104US), filed on Jul. 6, 2007, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 805,477 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.103US), filed on May 22, 2007, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 805,271 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.102US), filed on May 21, 2007, (b) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 805,477 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.103US), filed on May 22, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 805,271 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.102US), filed on May 21, 2007, and (c) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 805,271 (Attorney Docket No. 6236.102US), filed on May 21, 2007, all of which are entitled “System and Method For Removing Carbon Dioxide From An Atmosphere...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]A system for removing carbon dioxide from an atmosphere to reduce global warming and which can increase availability of renewable energy or non-fuel products such as fertilizers and construction materials according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises an air extraction system that collects carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a medium and removes carbon dioxide from the medium by using process heat to heat the medium, a collection system that isolates the removed carbon dioxide to a location for at least one of sequestration, storage and generation of a renewable carbon fuel, and one or more energy sources that provides a supply of process heat to the air extraction system to remove the carbon dioxide from the medium.

[0024]The principles of the present invention can be used to provide a global thermostat for controlling average temperature of a planet's atmosphere, through the use of a plurality of systems according to the principles of the present invention, each of which is capable of producing a negative carbon dioxide effect on a planet's atmosphere by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and using process heat for extracting carbon dioxide from the medium and to regenerate the sorbent (medium) for another cycle of adsorption. Thus, the plurality of systems together can effectively extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a rate that is faster than the rate at which the carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere (and can generate a renewable carbon fuel using the extracted gases).

[0025]Applicants' preferred concept of extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and using process heat to separate carbon dioxide from the collection medium is a significant way of addressing the global warming problem, and goes against the conventional wisdom in the art (and is counterintuitive to those in the art). Specifically, the use of process heat to solve the global warming problem by extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the low concentration ambient air is very attractive compared to both the conventional approach of extracting CO2 from high concentration flue gas sources and other schemes known in the art for extracting CO2 from the ambient atmosphere. In the former case it goes directly against conventional wisdom that 300 times lower concentration of the CO2 in ambient atmosphere would expect it to be 300 times more expensive since separation costs are thought to generally scale inversely with the concentration. Thus federally funded efforts have been directed at extracting CO2 from the flue gas emissions of power plants (e.g. clean coal) and experts have publicly claimed that the use of ambient air as opposed to flue gas makes no sense. However, the large infinite size of the ambient air source compared to the finite flue gas source and sources generally is one feature that enables applicants' approach to be effective in spite of conventional wisdom and practice. In the flue gas case the emissions containing the CO2 are at a higher temperature (65-70 degrees centigrade) and therefore regeneration uses higher temperature heat which is more costly than is needed for the cool ambient air (approximately 25-30 degrees centigrade). There are other benefits of applicants' approach including the ability to use very thin separation devices that also provide further process improvements. Thus, it could be less costly to remove CO2 by piping the process heat to a global thermostat facility that operates on the principles of applicants' invention, rather than cleaning up directly its flue emissions. In addition, the applicants' approach would produce negative carbon, actually reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, while cleaning up the flue gas would only prevent the CO2 content in the air from increasing.

Problems solved by technology

Some of these approaches, such as solar power, have had their large scale implementation blocked due to their current high costs as compared to the cost of fossil based electricity, and other approaches, such as nuclear, are restrained by their environmental and security risks.

In fact, the infrastructure and supply for renewable energy is so underdeveloped (e.g., only about 0.01% of our energy is provided by solar) that there is no feasible way to avoid using fossil fuels during the rest of this century if we are to have the energy needed for economic prosperity and avoid energy shortfalls that could lead to conflict.

There are complicated feedbacks that cause the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to change naturally even in the absence of human impact.

Climate change throughout geological history has caused many extinctions.

Hundreds of millions of people who live just above sea level on islands or on the coasts are threatened by destructive flooding requiring relocation or the building of sea walls if the sea level rises even a meter.

There is also a threat to other species from climate change which will destroy ecosystems that cannot adjust to the fast rate of human caused climate change.

Additional threats include increased infectious diseases and more extreme weather as well as direct threats from extreme heat.

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