69% Say Carbon Capture Technologies Work Better Than Most Other Strategies

Direct Air Capture (DAC) is a promising strategy for capturing carbon dioxide emissions to curb climate change. It involves collecting carbon dioxide molecules from the air and consequently reducing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. DAC technology is gaining momentum, with businesses and research institutions working to develop and commercialize it. The potential benefits of DAC are significant in the fight against climate change, although there are still technical and financial challenges to overcome. Continued scientific research and investment in DAC could help to build a more sustainable future for our planet.

Hence, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on the new way to capture carbon dioxide emissions to gather opinions and insights from the general public regarding its potential as a solution to combat climate change. The survey aims to understand the level of awareness and understanding of this new technology, as well as the willingness of individuals to support it as a viable solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The survey results will help us better understand public attitudes toward this technology and its potential role in addressing the global climate crisis.

Highlights

• Majority (40%) say the method of converting captured CO2 into baking soda is highly effective.
• 70.76% see baking soda’s potential to counter ocean acidification as a major benefit of carbon capture.
• Almost 70% (68.72%) acknowledged that carbon capture technologies are much better than other strategies.

New Carbon Capture Approach Converts Emissions

Carbon capture is a crucial process that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere from various sources, including transportation, industrial processes, and power plants. In this report, we will present the findings of a Real Research survey designed to understand better the public’s awareness of different carbon capture methods.

The survey’s first question asked respondents to indicate which carbon capture method they were most familiar with. The options provided were pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion, biological capture, direct air capture (DAC), and none of the above. The results revealed that 22% of the respondents were most familiar with DAC, while 16% indicated post-combustion capture.

Additionally, pre-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion, and biological capture had 12%, 15%, and 14% responses, respectively. Lastly, 20% of the respondents selected none of the above, indicating they were unfamiliar with any carbon capture methods.

Carbon capture technology has been gaining traction as a potential solution to address climate change. One promising approach that has recently emerged is using carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to convert carbon dioxide emissions into baking soda and store them in the ocean.

According to the survey results, about 31% of respondents are well aware of this new approach, while 34% are somewhat familiar with it. However, 35% of respondents reported being unaware of this technology.

Effectiveness of Converting Captured CO2 Into Baking Soda

The participants were presented with the following question, “Do you think this method of converting captured CO2 into baking soda and safely storing it in the ocean could be an effective solution to address the problem of global warming?”

The participants’ responses were analyzed, and it was found that 40% of the participants believed this method could be highly effective in addressing the problem of global warming. On the other hand, 51% of the participants considered this method to be somewhat effective, and only 9% of the participants believed that this method was not effective.

Benefits

When asked about the benefits of converting captured CO2 from the air into baking soda and storing it in the ocean, the majority (71%) said baking soda (alkaline) could help counteract the effects of acidification in the ocean caused by CO2 dissolution. Followed by it could lead to more biological activity in the ocean, which can increase the amount of CO2 sequestration (15%).

Furthermore, 4% believe that baking soda can be safely stored in the ocean– providing infinite storage capacity, and could raise public awareness and call for a collective effort to address climate change (5%).

Drawbacks

On the other hand, the survey also highlighted some drawbacks of converting captured CO2 to baking soda; 14% said that baking soda might not be sufficient to reverse the effects of acidification caused by CO2 dissolution. Followed by large amounts of baking soda in the ocean could potentially have unintended consequences on marine ecosystems and organisms (19%). Others also suggested that discharging baking soda into the ocean may face legal and regulatory barriers as it could be classified as industrial waste (13%).

And finally, the effectiveness may be limited to small-scale applications (10%), and the implementation on a large scale may be expensive and impractical (14%).

Effectiveness of Carbon Capture vs. Other Strategies

According to the survey, 69% indicated that carbon capture technologies work much better than most other strategies, such as pre-combustion capture, post-combusting capture, oxy-fuel combustion, biological capture, and direct air capture. On the other hand, 6% said they work worse than other strategies. Notably, 16% stated it performs the same as most other strategies.

Lastly, when asked about what kinds of incentives the government should offer to encourage the adoption of carbon removal, 20% said the government could provide grants and subsidies to companies and investors, and government could work with private companies and investors to create public-private partnerships.

Moreover, 19% said the government could offer tax incentives to companies and investors who invest in such technologies. Finally, 17% suggested the government could increase funding for research and development of carbon removal technologies.